North America’s most comprehensive wood bioenergy database re-launched

The US Endowment for Forestry and Communities has re-launched of the Wood2Energy.org wood bioenergy facility database and mapping tool, the most comprehensive database of its kind in North America.

Wood2Energy.org aims to develop a database and mapping tool that aggregates facility level data to deliver a unique perspective of the wood bioenergy industry.

With separate, clickable layers and simple symbology organising data by facility type, size, operational status, and additional detailed information for each data point, the website helps users to plot and contextualise data from the macro-level down to the site-level.

The Endowment engaged biomass feedstock supply chain solutions provider Ecostrat to develop and manage data delivery using geographic information system (GIS) mapping technology to render the very large, complex dataset in a simple user-friendly way.

"Tools like Wood2Energy.org enhance our work by providing information that yields a better understanding of current conditions, reduces risk for investors and communities, and allows stakeholders to have a common information base upon which to facilitate conversations,” said Carlton Owen, president and CEO of the Endowment.

The service data itself, which has been aggregated from the public domain – such as existing databases, industry publications, reports, press releases, and newsletters – will be updated on an ongoing basis by the Ecostrat data management team.

Brett Hogarth, head of business development at Ecostrat, called the project “remarkable” from a data collection and management standpoint, but underlined also the important role of data curation.

“A lot of thought and effort was put into how to best organise and present the data to balance the need for detail with ease of use and accessibility. Perhaps the greatest power of this tool is its ability to be used by experts and non-experts alike,” Hogarth explained.

Given the scale of this project and the dynamic nature of the market segments covered, Ecostrat invites anyone with information to fill gaps or fix errors to support the overall effort by contacting the company.