EPA, NREL develop Web-based biopower mapping application

Biomass Magazine October 2009
By Anna Austin
Posted October 1, 2009, at 9:16 a.m. CST

With funding from the U.S. EPA’s Blue Skyways Collaborative, the U.S. DOE’s National Renewable Energy Laboratory in Golden, Colo., has developed a Web-based, interactive geospatial application that allows users to view biomass resources, infrastructure and other relevant information, as well as query specific data and conduct initial screening analyses.

Users can select a location on the map, quantify the biomass resources available within a user-defined radius, and then estimate the total thermal energy or power that could be generated by recovering a specific portion of that biomass. While the tool is useful in refining the prospecting process of site identification, it should not replace the need for an on-site biomass evaluation, according to Anelia Milbrandt, NREL senior energy resources analyst.

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