Woody biomass energy efficiency pathways: public policy implications

ABSTRACT

Wood energy, energy derived from woody biomass, has historically been the largest source of renewable energy in the US mainly combusted for heating purposes. However, recent US public policy energy programs have promoted the use of woody biomass to generate electric power, placed less emphasis on heating and largely neglected efficiency considerations. We systematically examine the net useful energy (NUE) produced from one unit of woody biomass from different energy conversion pathways to gauge resource efficiency. Wood energy heat pathways consistently showed higher resource efficiency than electric power conversion did. Across energy pathways, estimates for high-efficiency heat production yielded about twice as much NUE than electricity-only generation per tonne of woody biomass. This result points to the importance of resource efficiency criteria in the design of public-supported incentives to maximize wood energy potential to replace fossil fuels.

KEYWORDS:

• Biomass heating
• biomass electric power
• renewable portfolio standards
• wood pellets
• wood chips

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by the USDA Forest Service Northern Research Station [grant number 09-PA-11242305-143].