EIA releases early version of Annual Energy Outlook

Biomass Power & Thermal
By Anna Austin February 29, 2012

The U.S. Energy Information Administration has made public an early release version of its 2012 Annual Energy Outlook. The report predicts biomass and wind electricity to dominate projected increases in U.S. non-hydro renewable electricity generation.

For biomass specifically, the EIA predicts a four-fold increase by the year 2035, accounting for 30 percent of the growth in non-hydro renewables. The report states that the quadruple increase is driven by two main factors: federal requirements to use more biomass-based transportation fuels—which leads to increased electricity generation as a co-product from liquid fuel facilities such as cellulosic ethanol refineries—and the co-firing of biomass with coal increasing over the projection period. This will be induced partially by state-level renewable portfolio standards, as well as favorable economics in regions with significant forestry residues, according to the EIA. It expects traditional industrial combined-heat-and-power generation in sectors such as the pulp and paper industry to continue to contribute to overall biomass generation.

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