Biomass and Carbon Assessments

We conduct field assessments of plantations and native forests to understand how much carbon is stored in the various forests, how much biomass may be left in the forest as residues, and also to understand the long-term dynamics of carbon in managed forests including harvested wood products. This work has directly informed our involvement in the development of carbon policy for the forestry sector.

We have also mapped residue availability from key biomass sources in NSW and continue to update these spatial datasets. The Australian Biomass for Bioenergy Assessment (ABBA) Project, funded by ARENA from 2015 to 2020, enabled each state to map the location and volume of many biomass types in Australia for potential use as bioenergy feedstock. The ABBA biomass spatial layers are accessible on the National Map platform. The database includes information on agricultural residues (cropping and livestock), forestry residues, horticultural residues and urban organic waste streams. Click - Add Data > Energy > Renewable Energy > Bioenergy > New South Wales to access the NSW statewide biomass spatial datasets.

For more information on biomass and carbon research that we have carried out, please access our publications on similar topics.