Seen Monday.
Seems to me that instead of burning trees
tree farmers should start growing solar farms
on some of their less useful land.

Forest Bioenergy Conference —GFA

Deadline for early registration is Sunday, February 10…register
today to save money!

It’s 21 February 2013 in Forsyth.

Interest in forest biomass as a potential feedstock for renewable
energy facilities has been especially keen for the past several
years and much of the activity has been centered in Georgia. GFA and
UGA are excited about hosting our fourth biennial conference to
examine where we are with forest bioenergy development in Georgia
and where we may be going in the near future. While many issues are
becoming clearer, much uncertainty remains with regard to government
policy and market prices for fossil fuels. This conference is an
excellent opportunity to hear from some of the players on the front
lines of developing markets, influencing government policies, and
conducting research on how these changes may impact our wood supply
system.

These are some of the topics that will be addressed during this
conference by many of the people directly involved with these
changes that are taking place in our state. Join us and stay abreast
of these significant changes taking place in our forest industry.

The talk I think they should pay attention to is:

What does Low-Cost Natural Gas Mean for Future Biomass Use?

It means biomass can’t compete economically,
as
Sterling Planet and the Valdosta-Lowndes County Industrial Authority discovered,


especially with

Georgia Power charging customers to subsidize new natural gas plants.
And since
solar power is already cheaper than natural gas,
solar is way cheaper than biomass.
Biomass energy production in the U.S. is only growing
3.7% per year, while solar is growing 60.9% a year,

according to FERC.
Putting solar panels on a few acres for regular solar income makes a lot more
sense than burning a lot of acres of trees for potential biomass income
that will never arrive.

So it would be a much better deal for tree farmers to
put solar farms on some of their less fertile land.
Maybe starting with solar panels on their farm workshops;
I’m a tree farmer and a Georgia Forestry Association member,

and that’s what I’ve done.

-jsq