The 25x’25 Alliance is backed by an array of over 900 endorsing partners, 30 governors and 15 state legislatures. Over the past 5 years the 25x’25 Alliance has served as a forum and facilitator for dialog and discussions on a new energy future for the Nation. Most recently, with the support of the Energy Future Coalition, the Energy Foundation, and the Turner Foundation, the 25x’25 alliance initiated a series of roundtable discussions with interested stakeholders to explore the challenges and opportunities with respect to the ability of our nation’s forests to provide sustainable supply of biomass to meet the needs of existing and new wood using industries. The vision set forth by the contributing organizations in their initial organizational meeting was to “Unlock the nation’s potential to sustainably produce woody biomass for energy and traditional uses while providing balanced multiple benefits from public and private forests for the American public.”

In Phase I of this effort, the contributing organizations have evaluated the supply and demand for forest products, forest productivity, carbon management and accounting, sustainability, and related policy issues through a series of forums with renowned experts. In addition, they deliberated and developed the consensus recommendations found in this interim document to guide and assist partners and policy makers in the near-term on matters surrounding the sustainable use of woody biomass for renewable energy.

In Phase II of the Wood-to-Energy effort, 25x’25 will assist the stakeholders in further dialog as they collectively analyze, explore, and evaluate the findings from the initial four workshops and prepare a 25x’25 National Wood-to-Energy Roadmap – a decisive, planned pathway forward that leads to using wood in concert with other biomass feedstocks for energy and traditional uses while ensuring our forests, soils, water and wildlife resources are sufficient and sustainable for the future. This final “Roadmap” product will be designed for use by the contributing organizations, their members, and partners to inform policy makers on the facts surrounding the sustainable use of woody biomass for renewable energy.

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