Engineering360: "Researchers propose turning pine needles into energy to reduce wildfire risks"

I betcha the cost of "mining" the pine needles will be more than the heat value in them. Plus the unintended consequence of not as much biomass to rot and produce the good soil that is in forests. But we do need to get rid of underbrush by using controlled burns every few years.

But the mining costs in India are less than other places around the world. Good point on the decomposition and soils. Not to mention that controlled burns are carbon neutral and add needed particulates into the atmosphere to act as nucleation points for water vapor to provide precipitation to reduce droughts and counteract the effects of climate change.