###### Abstract  
A bioenergy summit was organized by Advanced Hardwood Biofuels Northwest (AHB) to debate the barriers to the commercialization of a hybrid poplar biofuels industry for the alternative jet fuels market from the perspective of five years of AHB research and development and two recent surveys of the North American cellulosic biofuels industry. The summit showed that: (1) Growing and converting poplar feedstock to aviation fuels is technically sound, (2) an adequate land base encompassing 6.03 and 12.86 million respective hectares of croplands and rangelands is potentially available for poplar feedstock production, (3) biofuel production is accompanied by a global warming potential that meets the threshold 60% reduction mandated for advanced renewable fuels but (4) the main obstruction to achieving a workable poplar aviation fuels market is making the price competitive with conventional jet fuels. Returns on investment into biomass farms and biorefineries are therefore insufficient to attract private-sector capital the fact notwithstanding that the demand for a reliable and sustainable supply of environmentally well-graded biofuels for civilian and military aviation is clear. Eleven key findings and recommendations are presented as a guide to a strategic plan for a renewed pathway to poplar alternative jet fuels production based upon co-products, refinery co-location with existing industries, monetization of ecosystem services, public-private financing, and researching more efficient and lower-costs conversion methods such as consolidated bioprocessing.  
Keywords:advanced hardwood biofuels; renewable aviation fuels; hybrid poplar; feedstock conversion; biochemical fuels platform +
Footnote †: journal: Applied  
AHB is a consortium of universities and industries funded under the USDA-NIFA's 2011 Agriculture and Food Research Initiative, \"Regional Approaches to Sustainable Bioenergy.\" AHB's purpose is to lay a foundation for the Pacific Northwest biofuels and bioproducts industry using sustainably managed hybrid poplar biomass farms. The summit was conceived as an AHB commercialization effort with the intent of facilitating cooperation among the federal government, industry, non-governmental agencies, and academia as described in the National Science and Technology Council's Federal Alternative Jet Fuels Research and Development Strategy [1]. The University of Washington is AHB's principal investigating organization and directs the work of its academic partners (Oregon State University, University of Idaho, University of California, Davis, Portland State University, Washington State University, The Agricultural Center of Excellence at Walla Walla Community College) and industry members (GreenWood Resources, Rocky Mountain Wildlife Institute, Zeachem, New Holland Agriculture). The University of Washington leads the work in biomass conversion based on Zeachem's biochemical process of biomass fractionation, carbohydrate recovery and hydrolysis, fermentation to acetic acid, reduction to ethanol, and conversion to drop-in jet fuel. The University of Washington also conducts life cycle analyses, and the University of California, Davis models the sustainability of the entire hybrid poplar biomass enterprise. GreenWood Resources manages four biomass demonstration farms and directs field trials in feedstock production practices. AHB has concluded that the agronomy, biochemistry, and sustainability of the hybrid poplar biofuels system has outstanding potential but faces substantial near-term barriers to commercialization under the current petroleum market conditions [2].