Investigation of the Air Quality Impacts of an Aviation Biofuel Industry based on Woody Biomass in the Pacific Northwest

Efforts are underway to develop aviation biofuel using woody biomass residue associated with soft lumber harvesting and processing in the Pacific Northwest (PNW). In this paper, we present first steps towards analysis of the potential air quality impact of the supply chain for aviation biofuel. Specifically, impacts of emissions from wood processing industries (including pulp and paper facilities) on air quality in the Pacific Northwest (PNW) are considered and compared with the impacts of total emissions in the region for summertime conditions. This study utilizes the AIRAPCT-4 regional air quality forecasting system, which is based on the WRF-SMOKE-CMAQ framework.

AIRPACT-4 results are analyzed for two different emission scenarios: 1) total regional emissions, including all current wood product harvesting and process emissions and 2) total regional emissions without wood product harvesting and process emissions. The results are examined in terms of the impact of current wood product emissions on the ambient levels of PM_2.5 and O₃ for the entire PNW. These results will provide a base case for comparison to other scenarios based upon development of an aviation biofuel supply chain in the PNW.