Within 25 years, the United States could produce at least 1 billion dry tons of non-food biomass annually without adversely affecting the environment, the Department of Energy (DOE) says.

The biomass could be used to produce biofuel, biopower and bioproducts sufficient to displace approximately 30% of 2005 U.S. petroleum consumption, and would not negatively affect the production of food or other agricultural products, DOE says.

The forecast, unveiled in 2016 Billion-Ton Report, Volume 1, jointly released by DOE and the Oak Ridge National Laboratory, says these renewable resources include agricultural, forestry and algal biomass, as well as waste. They encompass the current and future potential of biomass, from logging and crop residues to dedicated energy crops.

Biomass can come from resources such as logging and crop residues, algae and dedicated energy crops. Image credit: Pixabay.Biomass can come from resources such as logging and crop residues, algae and dedicated energy crops. Image credit: Pixabay.The report finds that the U.S. could increase the annual use of dry biomass resources from its current 400 million tons to 1.57 billion tons under a high-yield scenario. Increasing production and use of biofuel, biopower and bioproducts would substantially decrease greenhouse gas emissions in the utility and transportation sectors and reduce U.S. dependence on imported oil as the domestic bioeconomy grows, the report adds.

New to the 2016 report—the third in a series of DOE assessments that have calculated the potential U.S. supply of biomass—are forecasts of potential biomass supplies from algae, new energy crops (miscanthus, energy cane, eucalyptus) and municipal solid waste. The report also considers how the costs of pre-processing and transporting biomass to the biorefinery may impact feedstock availability.

Volume 2 of the report, set for release later in 2016, will incorporate analysis on algae sustainability, land use and land management changes, as well as strategies to enhance environmental sustainability.

To contact the author of this article, email GlobalSpeceditors@globalspec.com