It is time to develop ways to minimize safety and health hazards in biomass production on the farm, an area in which there has been little research
Switchgrass baling on steep marginal land presents a rollover hazard. Photo: Douglas Schaufler, Penn State.
Table of Contents
- Abstract
- Research Purpose
- Research Activities
- What We Have Learned
- Why This Is Important
- For More Information
- Contributors to This Summary
Abstract
With increasing numbers of farmers growing biomass for renewable energy uses, new risks of …
Dr. Ciolkosz is a research and extension associate in Penn State’s Department of Agricultural and Biological Engineering. He works to develop engineering knowhow that will help Pennsylvania’s farms produce bioenergy and improve energy efficiency. This includes a variety of extension efforts with farmers, business developers, landowners, and biomass end users. The specific work can take on many forms, such as providing technical advice to individuals, hosting advanced bioenergy short courses, editing new books on wood energy, helping schools and other …
Dr. Timothy Volk has more than 25 years of experience working in the fields of forestry, agroforestry, short-rotation woody crops, bioenergy, and phytoremediation in the Northeastern United States and Africa. He is responsible for a series of research projects focused on the development of shrub willow biomass cropping systems as a feedstock for bioproducts and bioenergy and the use of willow as an alternative cover for industrial waste sites. He is also actively involved in research and development of sustainability …
Larry Smart, a professor in Cornell University’s Department of Horticulture since July 2009, is a plant geneticist and physiologist who has been a leader of efforts in genetic improvement of fast-growing shrub willow as a bioenergy crop since 1998. He has assembled a large and diverse collection of willows, which serves as a basis for traditional breeding.