Advanced Hardwood Biofuels Northwest first poplar harvest a success

In Washington state, fall is harvest season and kicks off Advanced Hardwood Biofuels Northwest’s first harvest of hybrid poplar for bioenergy. The Jefferson, Oregon and Hayden, Idaho demonstration sites were both harvested at the end of September and early October respectively. The trees grew rapidly at both sites and were ready for the first harvest after only two growing seasons.

Once planted, the first harvest sets the stage to produce a poplar “coppice” in which multiple shoots will sprout from the cut root stalk in the spring. This technique encourages new growth that will produce more biomass for the subsequent harvests. The trees will be harvested again in two or three years, yielding up to five times more biomass than the initial harvest because of the multiple stems on an established root stalk.