Research

Wood remains the nation's most important renewable and energy efficient resource. Society requires basic building materials, furniture, paper, and packaging. Developments in engineered wood products, woody biomass utilization and bioenergy are gaining interest in our nation. Our research examine the role West Virginia can play in this advancement.

Biomass and Bioenergy

We focus on efforts to identify bioenergy related economic opportunities in the state and provide scientifically proven technologies and tools to convert woody biomass into biofuels and bioproducts through basic and applied research, including:

(1) Creation of a multi-disciplinary research network with universities, state and federal agencies, and industries to facilitate research and pilot project demonstrations, (2) Identification of bio-based material resources and research needs to develop marketing strategies for biofuels and bioproducts, and (3) Enhancement of biomaterial and bioenergy production technology transfer to promote      economic and rural community development opportunities in West Virginia.

Some ongoing research projects include: (1) Assessment of coal/biomass to liquid fuels (2) From woody biomass to biofuels: a research demonstration project to promote wood residue utilization in West Virginia

(3) New processes and products from lignocelluloses biomass: potential opportunities for
     economic development in West Virginia.


Wood Utilization Research

We are fortunate to be one of the thirteen Wood Utilization Research Centers in the nation. Wood utilization research is an ongoing effort to produce high quality products from our forests and wood residues. By continuing to explore new possibilities in wood and biomass utilization, West Virginia can remain on the forefront of a new economy fueled by bio-based materials and biofuels, and continue to manage our forests sustainably for the future.

Some ongoing research projects include: (1) Feasibility study for the development of an automated log to lumber tracking system for hardwood sawmills (2) Hybrid structural wood composites engineered from underutilized hardwood species combined with reformulated waste materials (3) Design of a ground penetrating rada (GPR) based log scanning set up for improving the quality of wood products from saw mills.