Biomass Energy Outlook

Red Orbit.com
Posted on: Wednesday, 8 October 2008, 03:00 CDT
By Jenner, Mark

EIGHTH ANNUAL Renewable energy from organics Recycling CONFERENCE PREVIEW IS THERE A SILVER LINING IN ENERGY USE DATA?

IN MAY of this year, the U.S. Department of Energy's Energy Information Administration (EIA) released a preliminary report that includes energy use in 2007. EIA data showed that the U.S. consumed 101.6 Quadrillion BTUs (Quads) of energy. For comparative purposes, one million is a 1 followed by six zeros. A quadrillion is a one followed by 15 zeros, so 101.6 Quad is the same thing as 101,600,000,000,000,000 BTUs.

Biomass energy consumption in 2007 was 3.615 Quad, i.e., only 3.6 percent of the energy consumed was produced from biomass. Biofuels consumption was 1.018 Quad (1 percent of the nation's energy consumption). Renewable fuel consumption, a broader category than the biomass sources, was at 6.83 Quad, nearly 7 percent.

The EIA report also includes energy use data from previous years. For example, in the last five years biofuels increased 25 percent each year - not too shabby! Biofuel consumption is doubling every four years. The broader category of all "biomass" energy sources (biofuels, wood and other wastes) increased at an average of six percent a year. And all "renewable" fuels (biomass, hydro, wind and solar) increased almost 2.7 percent per year.

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