2012 Biomass Industry in Review



EarthlyIssues.com

Biomass can come from many organic sources such as crops and crop residue, grasses, and trees.  These sources are renewable and provide a clean, renewable source of carbon neutral energy.  The biomass industry is another way to encourage the "sustainable" use of our forests.  Growing and harvesting trees provides family-supporting jobs for millions of men and women across rural America.  Working forests are good for the environment providing wood products, wildlife habitat, clean water, and carbon storage.  Encouraging the growth of this industry will provide forest landowners with additional markets for low grade wood and less desirable trees thus promoting proper management and healthier forests

So, where do we stack up as far as biomass generated energy is concerned?  Kilwa Biomass Wood Energy News recently posted a year end summary.  The summary was prepared by Tim Probert and posted on RenewableEnergyWorld.com.  The most telling part of the report illustrated the impact natural gas had on the development of biomass energy.

"... the most important factor impacting biomass in 2012 was not Washington, D.C. but natural gas prices. As a result of an abundance of natural gas from shale gas fracking, several coal plants - which may otherwise have been potential candidates for biomass co-firing or conversions - were closed, often to be replaced with combined-cycle gas turbine power plants." To read the full story click here.

What do you think about using trees, a renewable energy source "wood", to provide heat and power?  This can be as simple as burning firewood to heat your home or buring wood chips and pellets to fuel boilers that can generate both heat and electricity.