Biomass Energy

What is Biomass Energy? 

Biomass is organic material from plants and animals. The most common way of extracting its energy is direct combustion, when the biomass is burned to produce electricity. Biomass feedstocks are raw, organic materials processed for the purposes of heating, generating electricity, and transportation fuel. These include: 

• Wood and wood waste 

• Agricultural crops and their residue 

• Municipal waste (e.g., yard waste, paper products, and food waste) 

• Animal manure and human sewage 

• Landfill gas 

Not all forms of biomass energy are created equal. For example, it is cost-effective and environmentally beneficial to burn landfill gas (methane) to produce electricity, rather than releasing it into the atmosphere, where it would act as a potent greenhouse gas. On the other end of the spectrum, clearcutting old-growth forest for fuel would be neither cost-effective nor environmentally beneficial. Fortunately, we have not seen this happening recently. 

Still, there has been a recent push in South Carolina to use pine forests grown for timber, which presents several concerns. Demand for timber has been declining, and it is important to consider alternative revenue sources that can help property owners retain their land and reduce the risk of more sprawling overdevelopment. For example, recently harvested timberland has often been leased to solar developers, which can be highly lucrative and environmentally beneficial. But cutting timber to fuel power plants is not a good solution because it is expensive and produces alarming amounts of pollution.

The Harms of Biomass Energy 

Burning wood products for utility-scale electricity generation releases enormous amounts of harmful emissions into the air for the amount of energy produced. Airborne particulate matter released from biomass plants can be particularly harmful to human health, leading to decreased lung function, aggravated asthma, heart attacks, and even premature death. 

The carbon footprint of biomass energy is another important factor to consider. When biomass is burned to create energy, it releases carbon dioxide into the atmosphere. Per unit of electricity generated, wood products release significantly more carbon dioxide than coal due to their lower energy density and higher water content. Wood-burning biomass generation is sometimes characterized as carbon-neutral, under the assumption that the vegetation would be regrown. However, this is not always the case, and the time scale of regrowth and efficiency losses are important factors. It takes many years and more energy to regrow and transport trees that can be burned in a matter of minutes. 

Despite these significant emissions, recently proposed legislation, such as H3967, would label biomass as “carbon neutral” or even “carbon negative.” 

Pellet mills that turn wood into fuel for power plants are also harmful for neighboring communities. Residents near these mills — three of which are in South Carolina — often complain of incessant noise and sawdust coating their homes and vehicles. What’s more, the mills also release carbon monoxide, smog-producing nitrogen oxides, and volatile organic compounds. The pellets are mostly shipped to Europe, where they are burned to generate electricity that counts toward achieving minimum targets established in the European Union’s Renewable Energy Directive. While biomass energy is technically renewable, it is not necessarily sustainable, and it is certainly not efficient or clean.

Biomass Energy is Inefficient and Costly 

Biomass power plants also have high costs compared to their energy output. In fact, biomass-fueled generation is so costly that utilities in South Carolina do not include it in their cost-optimization modeling of various energy technologies that could be used to meet future demand for electricity. 

Biomass energy is highly reliant on financial support from government programs, including tax incentives, grants, and low-interest loans such as the Clean Electricity Production Tax Credit, the Renewable Electricity Production Tax Credit, the Rural Energy for America Program, and the Residential Clean Energy Credit. However, these incentives are intended for clean energy, and characterizing outdated technology like burning wood as “clean” is questionable at best.