Taking a step back, lets take a worldview on biomass energy.

Biomass energy currently makes up 10 per cent of the world’s primary energy supply, but the International Energy Agency predicts that this will rise to 30 percent by 2050. In a recent report, “Bundles of Energy: The Case for Renewable Biomass Energy“, the authors describe the advantages and challenges of biomass, how it compares with renewable alternatives, and how to develop policy frameworks that optimize its impact on poverty reduction, climate change mitigation and the preservation of the ecosystem.

The report outlines ways for developing nations to enact policies to capitalize on the potential for biomass fuels to tackle climate change and poverty, and create energy security, jobs and sustainable economies. For an abbreviated view, Duncan Macqueen, provides a two-page opinion paper that highlights some of the reports major themes.

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According to estimates from the Energy Information Administration, prices for U.S. home heating oil were up 24 percent in February 2011, compared to a year ago.

With prices expected to continuing rise, homeowners are getting nervous about heating costs for the 2011/12 season and many are exploring the move to woody biomass fueled appliances.

The New York Biomass Alliance estimates that on a per million Btu basis, heating costs in January 2011 for #2 residential heating oil was $24.90 per MMBtu, wood pellets were $14.70 per MMBtu, and cord wood was the least expensive at $8 to $10 per MMBtu. Assuming one needs to pay for the firewood, cord wood is only 70% cheaper than the fossil fuel alternatives.

At today’s fuel prices, the economic argument for biomass energy is strong  — however, others cite that biomass keeps the energy dollars in the local economy rather than sending 75% of those dollars outside of their community or the country. Others are unclear what the next several years will bring with uncertain economic times and rising energy costs creating an ominous situation.

The last time energy prices reached this level, manufacturers like Greenwood Clean Energy, were unable to keep up with demand. We see how the year unfolds — stay-tuned.

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The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill has developed an edutainment web application that allows you to be in control of the United States energy. The goal of the game is to rework the U.S. energy portfolio to double the energy production in the United while decreasing the total carbon emissions.

Try the Energy Cocktail to see if you can produce enough energy to power America while balancing carbon emissions and costs.

Based on my trial and error — to keep costs in check, and provide adequate production, nuclear and biomass energy are integral to the solution. Let me know what you discover.

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Last month, the U.S. Department of Energy’s National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) released the BioEnergy Atlas, a Web portal that provides access to bio-energy analysis and mapping tools. The visualization tools, BioPower and BioFuels Atlas, allow users to view related bio-energy data on a single map. Some of these data include biomass feedstocks, bio-power and biofuels potential, production and distribution.

The site makes the mountains of data collected by the EPA, DOE and USDA accessible and sheds some light on the significant potential of biomass energy in the United States.

The BioEnergy Atlas is accessible here.

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If you wonder what the future might hold for renewable energy markets, one needs look no further than Sweden. Surprising to those in the US, biomass has now surpassed oil to become the number one source for energy in Sweden. The Swedish government has set the bar even higher — according to the Wood Resource Quarterly, Sweden is targeting 50% of all energy coming from renewable energy by 2020.

Contrast Sweden’s 32% biomass utilization with the United States where only 3.8% (Lawrence Livermore Lab) of our energy comes from our biomass resources. This paints a pretty dismal picture of the US policy on biomass-based energy utilization, especially when one looks at the plentiful resources the country offers.

A map of US private and public forest land

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