The global exploitation of petroleum reserves has enabled modern industrialization, but the depletion of hydrocarbon reserves presents a significant limitation to current raw material and energy supply. The Canadian Government has established a Renewable Fuels Strategy, which aims to reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions by mandating an average 5% renewable fuel content in gasoline for the transportation sector. This project will use genomic techniques to address these issues, and will be instrumental in establishing short-rotation, fast-growing, treebased bioenergy plantations that can effectively populate a variety of climate zones across the Canadian landscape and can be effectively converted to liquid fuel. A social research component will work closely with the genomic sciences to establish a framework for land use change and make policy recommendations to make the science a reality. Key findings from this project will inform and guide current poplar breeding strategies and generate key genetic markers for germplasm/genotype selection. These outcomes will address land use, economic, and social issues affecting poplar biomass/bioenergy plantations. Collaborations with end users interested in deployment of poplar bioenergy plantations in Canada could permit national impacts on industry.