Evelyne Thiffault

• ing.f, PhD
• Professor (Full) at Université Laval

Bioenergy produced from residual forest biomass can replace fossil fuels, and its contribution is essential to energy transition. However, its supply costs and selling value hardly ensure its profitability, so it has difficulty competing with other energy sources. In addition, concerns persist about the ecological impacts of forest bioenergy, parti...

La bioénergie produite à partir de biomasse forestière résiduelle peut substituer les énergies fossiles et son apport est essentiel à la transition énergétique. Cependant, les coûts d’approvisionnement et sa valeur sur le marché peinent à assurer sa viabilité, de sorte qu’elle rivalise difficilement avec d’autres sources d’énergies. De plus, des pr...

The development of bioenergy projects, which play a major role in the ongoing energy transition, must rely on research by indicators. This type of research allows the establishment of criteria that can guide development choices on scientific bases. To promote the continuation and development of bioenergy projects as much as possible, it is very imp...

Presentation made during the session "Adaptive Forest Management Practices". Description: Surplus forest growth is a crucial feedstock for the energy transition. However, high supply costs often impede the profitability of using this biomass for forest bioenergy. Additionally, the substantial variability in stand characteristics among Canadian fo...

Climate is an important abiotic factor that controls the physiological processes governing photosynthesis, cambial activity, and xylogenesis of trees. Climate projections anticipate significant changes in the dynamics of hydroclimatic variables and an increase in the occurrence of extreme climatic events. These changes can substantially impact the...

Présentation réalisée lors d'un Séminaire de l'équipe de la professeure titulaire Évelyne Thiffault à l'Université Laval, en collaboration avec le Centre de Recherche sur les Matériaux Renouvelables. Présentation de résultats préliminaires dans le cadre de la thèse de Claudie-Maude Canuel, étudiante au doctorat en sciences forestières à l'Universit...

Mapping tree species diversity is essential for monitoring and managing forest ecosystems. Automating ecoforestry mapping using remote sensing images remains an important challenge due to the tremendous variability in forest covers and the conditions under which images used for classification are acquired. Deep learning algorithms have been increas...

Litterfall is a major pathway for transferring aboveground biomass to the forest floor and thus plays an important role in building forest soil carbon stocks. However, inter-and intra-annual variability of litterfall remains poorly documented, especially in North American temperate and boreal forests, due to the lack of recent long-term studies at...

Developing land use strategies to optimize carbon sinks and improve carbon footprints involves proposing efficient nature-based solutions that industries and businesses can implement while considering financial and legislative constraints. The pulp and paper industry is associated with significant greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, primarily due to th...

The combination of climate change and anthropogenic disturbance significantly impacts forest bird assemblages. Assessing the cumulative effects of forest management and climate change on biodiversity and ecosystem services, including carbon sequestration and storage and provisioning of wood products is key to informing forest management and conserv...

Biomass from surplus forest growth that is not harvested for wood supply of conventional industries can be an important source of feedstock for bioenergy. Its procurement can be integrated with little effort into current harvest operations. However, the increasing harvesting intensity to meet greater demand for biomass procurement can impact forest...

Afforestation of urban lands can play an important role in increasing carbon sequestration and mitigating the effects of climate change. This study aimed to evaluate the potential for carbon sequestration and storage in plantations on roadsides in southern Quebec, Canada. We used the Carbon Budget Model of the Canadian Forester Sector 3 (CBM-CFS3)...

Management of boreal forests can increase terrestrial carbon sinks and reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions to the atmosphere. A case study was conducted in the boreal balsam fir forests of Quebec (Canada), a commercially important region for forestry, to identify optimal management and wood production solutions that contribute to reducing GHG emi...

Meeting climate change mitigation targets by 2050, as outlined in international pledges, involves determining optimal strategies for forest management, wood supply, the substitution of greenhouse gas‐intensive materials and energy sources, and wood product disposal. Our study quantified the cumulative mitigation potential by 2050 of the forest sect...

Global pathways limiting warming to 2 °C or below require deep carbon dioxide removal through a large-scale transformation of the land surface, an increase in forest cover, and the deployment of negative emission technologies (NETs). Government initiatives endorse bioenergy as an alternative, carbon-neutral energy source for fossil fuels. However,...

In this moment, el planeta corre el peligro de preocupare por las externalidades negatives debidas a los climáticos cambios, una gran cantidad de líderes en all el mundo try to project themselves towards greener energies and at lower cost. Those of the DRC are following in the footsteps of offering a ventana de oportunidad para inmensos recursos fo...

The contribution of the forest sector to climate change mitigation needs to rely on optimal strategies that include forest management, wood supply, wood product disposal, and replacement of GHG-intensive materials and energy sources. Our study aimed to assess the impact of alternative forest management practices applied at the stand scale on the ca...

Total soil CO2 efflux (F CO2) is the second most important carbon flux after photosynthesis in boreal forests. However, accurate modelling of F CO2 remains challenging because of its high variability, both temporally and spatially. Using an Abies balsamea-dominated boreal landscape in Quebec (eastern Canada) as a case study, we modelled seasonal, i...

This article focuses on the analysis of the current management factors of solid biomass (SB) by the approach of sustainability indicators in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) from the perspective of the sustainable management of the resource. Thus, the chapter focuses on three major axes. These are, first of all, the factors acting on the SB s...

Regional analyses assessing the vulnerabilities of forest ecosystems and the forest sector to climate change are key to considering the heterogeneity of climate change impacts as well as the fact that risks, opportunities, and adaptation capacities might differ regionally. Here we provide the Regional Integrated Assessment of climate change on Queb...

Afin d’atteindre les cibles climatiques, le gouvernement du Québec prévoit une augmentation de la production de bioénergie forestière pour favoriser la transition énergétique. Cependant, l’utilisation de la biomasse forestière à des fins énergétiques présente des défis sociaux, économiques et environnementaux particuliers. Au cours d’un atelier de...

This document is available at: https://cfs.nrcan.gc.ca/publications?id=40869. This fibre fact provides an overview of costs and revenues from biomass supply for bioenergy production using cut-to-length method.

Ce document est disponible à : https://cfs.nrcan.gc.ca/publications?id=40869. Ce fait sur la fibre aborde les coûts et les revenus liés à l'approvisionnement en biomasse forestière en utilisant un procédé de récolte pour bois tronçonnés.

This article, which deals with the diagnosis of the management and use of solid biomass in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), has made it possible to make a documentary analysis to determine the viability of forest management in the production of solid biomass in DRC. The analysis was made following the ‘Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities an...

Afforestation and reforestation can contribute to the mitigation of climate change by increasing forested areas that can actively sequester carbon dioxide from the atmosphere through photosynthesis. The purpose of this study was to assess the potential for carbon sequestration in the ecosystem and in harvested wood products, and associated greenhou...

En 2020, le Québec a adopté une stratégie nationale de production de bois (SNPB) afin d’augmenter la quantité et la qualité de la matière ligneuse produite. Au cours d’une table ronde tenue à l’automne 2021, des experts de la foresterie et de domaines connexes se sont prononcés sur cette nouvelle stratégie et sur les défis de mise en oeuvre qu’elle...

In 2020, Quebec adopted a strategy to increase the quantity and quality of timber it produces. During a roundtable discussion held in the fall of 2021, experts in forestry and in related fields expressed their views on the new strategy and its implementation challenges. The main purpose of this article is to present the key observations from the ro...

Afforestation of unproductive or currently non-forested territories can increase carbon land sinks and thus contribute to mitigate climate change. However, investments on large-scale afforestation could be risky because of the predicted effect of climate change on forest productivity of newly created plantations. The aim of this study was to assess...

Residual forest biomass for heating is an alternative to fossil fuels that is in line with global greenhouse gas emission reduction targets. Even if the opportunities and the benefits of such projects may be important, one should not neglect the barriers and potential impacts of these projects regarding their sustainability. The decision support to...

Forest bioenergy value chains can offer attractive opportunities to promote economic development and mitigate climate change. However, implementing profitable and efficient forest biomass value chains requires overcoming barriers that continue to hinder the development of bioenergy systems in several jurisdictions. The objective of this study was t...

Purpose The objective of this study was to compare the accumulation over time of organic carbon (C) in soil and vegetation of abandoned agricultural lands left to natural vegetation succession or afforested with planted white spruce (Picea glauca (Moench) Voss) in Abitibi (Canada). The agricultural areas of this region originated from the clearing...

Integrating forest biomass procurement in wood procurement for conventional products is a potential means of reducing bioenergy system supply costs. We studied forest harvest operations to procure biomass in the form of trees and tree sections, along with sawtimber and pulpwood. We evaluated the cost-effectiveness of the supply chain with a particu...

Bioenergy produced from forest biomass is considered as a critical tool for energy transition and the fight against climate change. The forest bioenergy sector has very strong positions in some jurisdictions across the world, especially for heating; However, it is still at an early stage of development in regions that nevertheless have an important...

Changing climates are altering the structural and functional components of forest ecosystems at an unprecedented rate. Simultaneously, we are seeing a diversification of public expectations on the broader sustainable use of forest resources beyond timber production. As a result, the science and art of silviculture needs to adapt to these changing r...

This document is available at: https://cfs.nrcan.gc.ca/publications?id=40607. This fibre fact provides an overview of how salvage logging can provide an opportuntiy for the forest industry to supply Canada's bioeconomy with wood fibre as well as regenerate a forest.

Ce document est disponible à l'adresse : https://scf.rncan.gc.ca/publications?id=40608&lang=fr_CA. Cette fiche d'information donne un aperçu de la manière dont la récolte forestière de récupération peut permettre à l'industrie forestière d'approvisionner la bioéconomie du Canada en fibre de bois et de régénérer les forêts.

Background Forest based climate mitigation emerged as a key component of the Paris Agreement, and thus requires robust science to reduce uncertainties related to such strategies. The aim of this study was to assess and compare the cumulative effects on carbon dynamics of forest management and climate change on boreal and northern temperate forest s...

Voici mon affiche présentée lors du Colloque du CAFD montrant un résumé de mon projet de recherche ainsi que des résultats préliminaires concernant l'étape de la germination de ma méthodologie.

The forest sector can help reduce atmospheric CO2 through carbon (C) sequestration and storage and wood substitution of more polluting materials. However, climate change can have an impact on the C fluxes we are trying to leverage through forestry. We calculated the difference in CO2 eq. fluxes between ecosystem-based forest management and total fo...

Biomass procured from forests affected by natural disturbances as a bioenergy source is increasingly considered in the context of climate change mitigation. By comparing clearcuts with and without biomass procurement, we aimed to determine the effects of biomass extraction performed alongside lumber harvesting on regeneration density, number of pla...

Dans une perspective de transition énergétique, la production et la consommation de bioénergie forestière, reconnue comme étant un outil important de la lutte contre les changements climatiques et de la transition énergétique mondiale par le Groupe intergouvernemental d'experts pour le climat, est une filière énergétique particulièrement intéressan...

In this study, we explored the potential benefits of using bias correction and ensemble modelling for the prediction of soil properties and assessment of related uncertainty. The proposed approach combines resampling techniques applied to soil observations, covariates and hyperparameters to generate a set of simulated values at the same location. T...

This poster shows some details about my master’s project, which focuses on the relationship between germination and establishment of boreal trees in the context of climate change.

The pattern of change in carbon (C) accumulation with forest ageing can vary greatly amongst different forest types. Documenting how C accumulates in various forest ecosystems in the absence of logging makes it possible to predict what would be the outcome of extending forest rotations or in dedicating more land to conservation on C storage. This s...

Unharvested hardwoods are abundant in eastern Canada, due to the low quality of their fiber and the absence of outlets in conventional wood transformation industries. The objective of this study was to assess the biochemical and thermochemical energy conversion potential of decaying hardwoods and compare their relationships with external and intern...

Abandoned unrestored mines are an important environmental concern as they typically remain unvegetated for decades, exposing vast amounts of mine waste to erosion. Several factors limit the revegetation of these sites, including extreme abiotic and unfavorable biotic conditions. However, some pioneer tree species having high levels of genetic diver...

Natural disturbances are common in Canadian boreal managed forests. For example, during and after insect epidemics, foresters must deal with significant amounts of degraded or dead wood that cannot be processed into sawn timber or pulp. Bioenergy could be an alternative pathway for this wood. A case study in Quebec (Canada) was used to evaluate the...

Abandoned unrestored mines are an important environmental issue since they typically remain unvegetated for decades, exposing vast amounts of mine waste to erosion. Several factors limit the revegetation of these sites, including extreme abiotic conditions and unfavorable biotic conditions. However, some pioneer tree species having high level of ge...

Research Highlights: This research provides an application of a model assessing the naturalness of the forest ecosystem to demonstrate its capacity to assess either the deterioration or the rehabilitation of the ecosystem through different forest management scenarios. Background and Objectives: The model allows the assessment of the quality of ecos...

Ecosystem-based management aims to maintain the natural proportion of native species over a given landscape. White spruce (Picea glauca (Moench) Voss) is a species sensitive to environmental conditions; it is especially demanding in terms of nutrients and its regeneration is negatively affected by clearcut harvesting. Its proportion is now signific...

Using forest biomass procured from forests affected by natural disturbances as a bioenergy source is increasingly considered in the context of climate changes mitigation. This study aimed to determine the effect of biomass procurement, performed alongside lumber harvesting, on natural regeneration establishment, subsequent needs for site preparatio...

Identifying the main drivers of tree height growth on reclaimed oil sands sites of northern Alberta can provide useful information on what can be done to shorten the recovery time of these disturbed sites. The effect of water availability, foliar nutrient concentrations, competition, and soil chemical properties on young trembling aspen and white s...

Small-scale wood pellet producers often use a trial-and-error approach for determining adequate blending of available wood processing residues and pelletizing parameters. Developing general guidelines for optimizing wood pellet quality and meeting market standards would facilitate their market entry and profitability. Four types of hardwood residue...

Management of the world’s forests can play a role for climate change mitigation by increasing CO2 storage in vegetation biomass and harvested wood products, and by displacing CO2-intensive materials such as steel or concrete. This study aimed to determine how management of boreal forest stands could contribute to climate change mitigation in the co...

Core Ideas Total ecosystem carbon recovered to pre‐harvest levels after seven decades. Predicted and observed carbon pools differed most for deadwood and soil. Modified CBM‐CFS3 initialization and default decay parameters may improve accuracy. Climate change and global wood products demand raise concerns about boreal forest ecosystem resilience to...

The report presents results from two case studies that were carried out with support of local industry and other stakeholders, one in Australia and one in Canada, comparing silvicultural systems with and without biomass recovery. Those case studies respectively discuss: • the operational costs of recovering forest biomass and operational costs in...

Research Highlights: To inform eco-designers in green building conception, we propose a conceptual model for the assessment of the impact of using wood on the quality of ecosystems. Background and Objectives: The proposed model allows the assessment of the quality of ecosystems at the landscape level based on the condition of the forest and the pro...

In Canada, the annual allowable cut (AAC) sets the harvest limit of roundwood and aims to maintain the long-term productive capacity of the forest while taking into account other values such as biodiversity and needs of stakeholders. Current harvest levels in the province of Quebec, which feed an industrial network dominated by the production of lu...

Forest management strongly influences the carbon (C) budget of boreal forests and their potential to mitigating greenhouse gas emissions. A better quantification of the net changes of carbon pools with time since harvesting is necessary to guide the development of climate-friendly forest management practices. The objective of this study was to asse...

La bioénergie tirée de la biomasse forestière est reconnue comme une source d'énergie incontournable pour la transition du système énergétique mondial et la lutte aux changements climatiques. Parmi les sources de biomasse forestière disponibles pour la bioénergie, on retrouve les arbres sans preneur dans les industries conventionnelles du bois. Par...

Driven by the policy imperatives of mitigating greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions and improving energy security, an increasing proportion of global energy demand is being met by nonfossil energy sources. The socioeconomic and environmental benefits of replacing fossil fuels with bioenergy are complex; however, debate continues about issues such as best...

Global demand for renewable energy has increased drastically over the last decade due to new climate change policies implemented in many jurisdictions. Wood pellets made from primary wood processing mill residues represent an attractive source of renewable energy that can be used in the environmental global challenge. However, the environmental imp...

Increasing global demand for energy, a push by governments and industry to reduce greenhouse gases (GHG), and a desire to increase energy independence are driving the demand for renewable alternatives to fossil fuels. As a source of renewable carbon that can be used in the existing energy infrastructure, woody biomass is an attractive feedstock for...

This guidebook presents the main ecological issues related to the potential impact of residue recovery for the Boreal forest. These issues correspond to: biodiversity, water and riparian areas, soil productivity, stand productivity, and CO2 emissions.

Global demand for forest biomass feedstock has increased drastically in recent years, mainly due to the implementation of policies and strategies for climate change mitigation and renewable energy production in many jurisdictions. The biomass from dead trees has been recognized by the International Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) as a promising sour...

Strategies for increasing the mobilization of forest biomass supply chains for bioenergy production require continuous assessments of the spatial and temporal availability of biomass feedstock. Using remote sensing products at a 250-m pixel resolution, estimates of theoretical biomass availability from harvest residues and fire-killed trees were co...

Using common methodology and data sources, two indicators were derived to estimate the levels of forest biomass production achieved today for 12 countries in the boreal and temperate biomes and to inform on the potential availability of forest bioenergy feedstocks. The first indicator was used to evaluate the intensity of roundwood production per u...

The environmental sustainability of forest biomass procurement needs to be well understood, as the capacity of ecosystems to provide biomass, without negative impacts on ecological functioning, limits the biomass potential. Emerging bioenergy markets typically first take advantage of secondary residue streams of various wood processing industries a...

This book identifies opportunities and challenges for the mobilisation of sustainable forest biomass from supply chains operating in the boreal and temperate biomes. The respective feedstock plays a critical role in meeting global deployment levels for bioenergy, which in turn are necessary to stabilise global greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions and atm...

Several international organisations have set up targets for the coming decades for renewable energy in general, and for biomass in particular. Woody biomass, that is biomass from forests, has prospects for providing a substantial share of the global biomass and total energy supply. Countries from the temperate and boreal biomes, with their mature f...

The level of mobilisation of forest biomass supply chains varies widely among countries of the boreal and temperate biomes; it depends on the ability of forest biomass to be harvested, collected, processed and delivered to end-users and markets in a manner that is competitive with other energy sources, notably fossil fuels. Within each country, the...

In many EU countries, ambitious targets have been set for reducing greenhouse gas emissions by increasing the contribution of woody biomass to renewable energy production. Although nations with active forest sectors could be subject to unique factors that discourage the increased use of wood for energy, lessons learned from nations with well-develo...

The circumpolar boreal forest biome contains a significant portion of the global forest carbon (C) stocks, and is generally considered to be a sink for atmospheric C. However, there is a concern that disturbances occurring concurrently with fibre utilization may cause these boreal forest ecosystems to become net C sources resulting from cumulative...

The United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) has been reporting country-level area in primary forests in its Global Forest Resource Assessment (FRA) since 2005. The FAO definition of a primary forest (naturally regenerated forest of native species where there are no clearly visible indications of human activities and the ecological pr...

We studied three hybrid poplar plantations in Quebec (Canada) established on sites with varying soil and environmental characteristics to investigate the effects of logging residues on the water potential, carbon isotope ratio and foliar nutrients of planted trees. On each site, four treatments representing different residue loads, as well as treat...

Significant opportunities exist to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, increase domestic energy security, boost rural economies, and improve local environmental conditions through the deployment of sustainable bioenergy and bio‐based product supply chains. There is currently a wide selection of possible feedstocks, a variety of conversion routes, and...

Inter-Task Project Synthesis Report

The interpretation of foliar nutrient composition data through vector nutrient analysis to assess treatment effects such as those of fertilization has expanded in the forest sciences and related fields of research over the last few years. However, it rarely includes measures of variability that would allow formal statistical assessment of the true...

Mobilisation of Forest Bioenergy in the Boreal and Temperate Biomes: Challenges, Opportunities, and Case Studies features input from key international experts who identify and analyze the main opportunities and roadblocks for the implementation of sustainable forest biomass supply chains in the boreal and temperate regions. It draws from responses...

Accurately assessing the delay before the substitution of fossil fuel by forest bioenergy starts having a net beneficial impact on atmospheric CO2 is becoming important as the cost of delaying GHG emission reductions is increasingly being recognised. We documented the time to carbon (C) parity of forest bioenergy sourced from different feedstocks (...