Unit 2

All feedstocks, biorenewables included, have to be sourced from somewhere




Heyo, welcome back to the blog. I hope you're ready to get into feedstocks! I sure am. Before we roll up our sleeves and get into it, though, do y'all have any idea what a feedstock is? I didn't until recently. Allow me to enlighten you! Feedstocks are raw materials that are used in the manufacturing or production of some other product, usually fuel. So like, corn, for example, is a raw material that's used to produce ethanol; crude oil is another raw material, used to produce gasoline (Feedstock). Now that we know what feedstocks are, let's talk about where we get them.

We mainly grow biorenewable resources in two forms: trees (woody plants) and crops (herbaceous plants) (Lesson 8). These are the primary resources from which biomass-- biorenewable feedstocks-- are sourced. 


Woody Biomass
(Quantifying environmental effects)

The three main systems that we typically use to produce woody biomass (also known as trees) are natural forests, plantation forests, and short rotation coppicing (SRC) (Lesson 8). Natural forests are forests that have occurred naturally and developed over time with minimal human intervention and are diverse in tree species, plants, and wildlife. Plantation forests are forests that have been planted by humans to serve a specific purpose and are often monocultures, meaning they contain just one or very few species of tree (Is That a Forest?). SRC is a system in which fast-growing trees are cut at the stump each harvest and then resprout from the stump; SRC produces high yields of biomass, making it an efficient system for producing renewable energy (Quantifying environmental effects). 
Woody biomass and forest resources have many purposes, including lumber (or timber) for building, paper products, high value wood for flooring and furniture, as well as renewable energy materials (Forest Products). Additionally, about 2% of energy consumed in the US each year uses wood or wood-derived fuels, and wood and wood-derived fuels are used for 27% of the renewable energy consumed annually in the US (Woody Biomass for Bioenergy and Biofuels). 

Herbaceous Biomass
Herbaceous energy crops are perennial, meaning they're grown and cultivated for several seasons and are usually harvested once a year, resulting in high yields, low nutrient and water requirements, and low costs, which make them good for energy production (Introduction to Biomass). 
Herbaceous biorenewable resources are grown specifically with the purpose of being used in the production of bioproducts or bioenergy, rather than being grown for food. These crops are primarily grown for two purposes: energy/chemicals and fibers. Plants like corn and soybeans are used to create ethanol and biodiesel; sugar cane, canola, and other such plants are used for chemicals like adhesives; plants such as cotton and bamboo are used to make items like clothes and rope (Lesson 10). 

(Lesson 10)


Feedstocks such as woody biomass and herbaceous biomass are used for a lot of stuff in America, including physical products as well as energy. It's important to know how our resources are grown and produced so we know from where our feedstocks are sourced.

As always, thanks for tuning in, and come back next time to get deeper into forest products!


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Resources - in order of appearance

1. Lesson 8: Woody Biomass Production, BBE 1002, UMN

2. Feedstock, ballotpedia.org

3. Is That a Forest?, March 25, 2025, americanforestmanagement.com

4. Quantifying environmental effects of Short Rotation Coppice (SRC) on biodiversity, soil and water, ieabioenergy.com

5. Forest Products, fs.usda.gov

6. White, Eric M. Woody Biomass for Bioenergy and Biofuels in the United States— A Briefing Paper, July, 2010, fs.usda.gov

7. Lesson 10: Herbaceous Biomass Production, BBE 1002, UMN

8. Balaman, Şebnem Yılmaz Introduction to Biomass—Resources, Production, Harvesting, Collection, and Storage, 2019, sciencedirect.com

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