Biomass Goes from Golden Age to the Brink of Demise

by Marc Heller (E&E Publishing/ClimateWire) ... In California, once home to 66 biomass plants, about 30 remain in business, dashing the hopes of orchard growers looking for places to sell downed trees and branches.

"When oil is less than $30 a barrel, it's going to be extremely difficult to compete in that arena," said Ralph Cavalieri, director of the Agricultural Research Center at Washington State University, which has explored biofuel for airplanes. Investors in biofuel typically are looking for returns between 10 and 20 percent but haven't seen rates much better than the single digits, he said.

That's too bad, Cavalieri said, because biomass -- a range of materials from algae to grass to wood chips -- can play a useful role in the United States' long-term energy plans. Demand for energy in the years ahead outpaces what the nation can provide in fossil fuels, and prices for gas and oil won't be low forever, he said.

Biomass plants are especially plentiful in California, Oregon and Washington, as well as in Florida, Minnesota and Maine, according to the Biomass Power Association, a trade group with 41 member companies. The BPA touts biomass for reducing methane that would otherwise be released by decomposing forest material, as well as for lowering carbon emissions, although the carbon-related benefit is a point of contention among scientists. READ MORE