I’ve touched on my thoughts about biofuels in previous posts. Essentially, I feel that (and a lot of science has shown that) corn ethanol is a waste of effort and energy, resulting in soil degradation and harm to farmers who have to deal with fluctuating corn prices. On the other hand, cellulosic ethanol has potential, but has yet to make it to commercial scale at any real volume.

 
Biofuels are a major topic in the energy conversation and fairly well covered by the media and in policy. But biomass energy is more than just biofuels. Biomass as a whole represents half of all renewable energy, according to the latest EIA data. According to this EIA data, wood biomass represents 2.007 quads (quadrillion British thermal units), compared to just 1.297 quads from liquid biofuels. There is also a category of “other biomass” representing 0.480 quads, which includes municipal solid waste from biological sources, as well as landfill gases and any other non-wood biomass.

 
It’s important to remember that wood biomass represents such a large portion of our renewable energy mix. Wood can be an affordable, sustainable source of energy for home heating in many rural areas. Additionally, modern outdoor wood boilers are more efficient and have lower emissions than the wood stoves of the past. Wood is typically considered a “traditional” fuel, rather than a modern energy source or an energy source of the future. But pellet stoves and other end-use technologies have made it progressively more important as a source of modern renewable energy.

 
Additionally, the production of energy crops has been increasing as farmers put some of their marginal land into the production of woody plants or perennial grasses. In upstate New York, this is typically shrub willow, a fast-growing woody crop related to the willow trees many people are familiar with. I am part of the shrub willow research group at the State University of New York College of Environmental Science and Forestry. We focus on the economic, social, and environmental sustainability of willow production systems. The Biomass Crop Assistance Program (BCAP) through the USDA was recently implemented to provide funding to farmers who establish energy crops on their land and to help with connecting farmers with end-users of the biomass. Energy crops tend to run into a chicken-and-egg scenario. It is difficult to convince people to grow the crop without a solid long-term market for the biomass, but it is also difficult to establish the market without a solid long-term supply of biomass. The BCAP help to alleviate this issue by setting up contracts between growers and end-users. The BCAP is likely to continue under the new Farm Bill, allowing more farmers to plant their marginal land with shrub willow or other energy crops, such as hybrid poplar, sorghum, or switchgrass.

 
Energy crops can be used in cellulosic ethanol systems when these systems become commercial scale, but can also be used directly for heating and electricity production. Some coal plants have found that co-firing biomass (usually wood) with coal, with only minor retrofitting of the plant, can be an economical way to reduce emissions in the face of stricter regulations. There are also several biomass-to-electricity plants, including some in upstate New York that run primarily on wood residues from logging operations and other waste wood. Wood and grasses can also be pelletized and burned for home heating. The new Gateway Center at SUNY ESF contains a wood pellet boiler that provides heat and hot water to campus for 3 seasons of the year.
In a future post, I can speak more specifically to the environmental benefits of growing energy crops over traditional row crops on marginal land. But for now, when you think of renewable energy, don’t just think of solar panels and wind farms!

 

For more information on the potential of wood biomass in the Northeast.
For more information on the SUNY ESF willow biomass research group.