Dry Biomass

Today in America, biomass sources account for nearly 3 percent of the energy consumed by this country. And in terms of renewable energy, biomass accounted for nearly half of the renewable energy consumed in America in 2002.  In fact, biomass delivered more energy to the nation in 2002 than any other form of renewable energy.  In the rest of the world, biomass meets 14 percent of the world´s energy needs.

To put it another way, today in America, 45 billion kilowatt-hours of electricity comes from biomass.  That constitutes close to 1.2 percent of total electric sales in the country.

How much could this increase in the coming years?  The United States Department of Energy estimates that by 2010, four percent of transportation fuel could be produced by biomass; USDE further estimates that this could increase to 20 percent by 2030.  In terms of electricity, the Department of Energy believes energy crops could eventually supply 14 percent of America’s power needs.