**9. Conclusions**

In order to exploit biomass for bioenergy in Australia, the potential of forest biomass needs to be assessed, and methods need to be established to determine and evaluate the potential. This review applied four definitions of biomass potential as defined by Voivontas et al. (2001) and added a fifth definition for the environmental biomass potential. Although giving general definitions, this review evaluated some of the measures of biomass potential found in Australian forest biomass for bioenergy studies.

Almost every study includes measures to assess the theoretical forest biomass potential. The link with the available or technological, economical and environmental biomass potential is rare, however. Promising methods using decision support systems based on geographical data and modelling can be developed to make this connection and methods like LCA and value chain optimization might provide insight into the extensive possibilities around the economical and environmental biomass potential.

These methods have been used in other parts of the world and, with appropriate and accurate data, could be used in Australia to estimate costs-savings and emissions as an end-result. This information can then be used to initiate investment, simulate what can be achieved, and optimize business solutions to grow, harvest, transport and convert forest biomass for bioenergy.

**Author Contributions:** Conceptualization, S.V.H., M.B., S.K.S. and M.R.G.; methodology, S.V.H.; investigation, S.V.H.; data curation, S.V.H.; writing—original draft preparation, S.V.H.; writing—review and editing, M.B., S.K.S. and M.R.G.; visualization, S.V.H.; supervision, M.B., S.K.S. and M.R.G.; project administration, S.V.H. All authors have read and agreed to the published version of the manuscript.

**Funding:** This research was funded by the Australian Biomass for Bioenergy Assessment (ABBA) as part of the Australian Renewable Energy Agency (ARENA) through a University of the Sunshine Coast Research Scholarship (USCRS-ABBA), gran<sup>t</sup> number (PRJ-010376).

**Acknowledgments:** We want to thank Prof Richard Burns, Dr Madaline Healey and the anonymous reviewers and the journal editor for taking their time to review and provide valuable input and comments. The Gottstein Trust provided additional funding through a forest industry top-up scholarship.

**Conflicts of Interest:** The authors declare no conflict of interest. The funders had no role in the design of the study; in the collection, analyses, or interpretation of data; in the writing of the manuscript, or in the decision to publish the results.
