The department is authorized to conduct surveys, studies, and research concerning the economic and environmental costs, benefits, and feasibility of utilizing wood wastes and forest growth for thermal processes, including, but not limited to, the generation of electrical energy or conversion to solid, gaseous, or liquid fuels for transport or industrial use. Such studies shall include research concerning the cost of gathering and transporting logging wastes and other materials from timber management operations to potential markets and the identification of locations for conversion facilities and forest management operations with high potential for utilization of wood for energy production.