Forest biomass for bioenergy as a tool to mitigate climate change: Implications for sustainable forest management in eastern Canada

Bioenergy produced from residual forest biomass can replace fossil fuels, and its contribution is essential to energy transition. However, its supply costs and selling value hardly ensure its profitability, so it has difficulty competing with other energy sources. In addition, concerns persist about the ecological impacts of forest bioenergy, particularly regarding the carbon cycle, biodiversity and site productivity. Our objective is to identify ways of facilitating the development of the forest bioenergy sector within the sustainable forest management framework of eastern Canada. We reviewed the literature to address the role of forest biomass for bioenergy from an operational, silvicultural and ecological perspective. It emerged that forest bioenergy represents an opportunity for the development of the forestry sector. However, the specifications of the forest biomass to be harvested need to be clarified in order to harmonize its mobilization within the existing industrial ecosystem, while maintaining the ecological functions of forest ecosystems. Integrating biomass harvesting with silvicultural and forest management activities is a key element for developing profitable forest bioenergy business plans.