A new approach that promises to reduce the risk of wildfires has been proposed by a team of researchers from TR Abhilashi Memorial Institute of Engineering and Technology, India.

By identifying a main contributor of wildfire spread as the accumulation of biomass on the forest floor — specifically pine needles — the team has proposed reducing this biomass risk by using this so-called waste as a valuable energy resource for power production.

According to the researchers, this approach would have both economic and environmental benefits in addition to clearing forest floors of such a flammable fuel source for fires.

Although they are abundant in forests, dry pine needles are not typically used as fuel due to their low energy density and heating value. However, the research team suggests that given the appropriate technology, the material could potentially be converted into high energy density fuel — such as briquettes.

Such a waste-to-energy approach promises to provide both a renewable energy source and simultaneously reduce forest fire risk, the researchers concluded

The proposal is detailed in the article, “Forest fire mitigation by social economic development of local communities using pine needle as potential fuel,” which appears in the International Journal of Environment and Waste Management.