Biomass Funding Review for National Energy Standards

The European market for biomass-fired power and heating is more mature than that of the United States based on more aggressive European regulatory requirements and broader public support for renewable energy policies. Currently, the 27 nations of the European Union (EU) have a renewable energy portfolio standard requiring 21 percent for electricity and 20 percent for heat by 2020, whereas the U.S. lacks a national standard but has a collage of policies for approximately 29 states. In 2005, two-thirds of all EU renewable energy came from biomass according to Norbridge Inc., an independent consulting firm, and this trend is expected to remain intact in the next few years. According to the European Biomass Association, the EU will increase its biomass consumption from 13 million tons annually in 2010 to 100 million tons by 2020.

The U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) expects biomass consumption for power generation to increase from 60 billion kilowatt-hours (kWh) in 2008 to 188 billion kWh by 2020, while 165 billion kWh will be derived from wood and other forms of biomass. A recent EPA ruling to implement the long-term national renewable fuels standard of 36 billion gallons by 2022 established by Congress helps support the EIA forecast. Moreover, the U.S. Department of Agriculture recently approved a measure for the Biomass Crop Assistance Program to provide financing for expanding biomass energy conversion.

Biomass fuel may be derived from a wide variety of sources. Biomass power plants depend on source material availability and cost, as well as compatibility with boiler process configuration and environmental requirements. Wood-based and agriculturally-based biomass are top candidates. However, major regional differences exist in the local availability of specific biomass resources.

In order to deal with the increasing reliance on biomass for energy to lessen dependence on foreign oil and to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, the U.S. government has increased funding emphasis for this source through the Recovery Act and the proposed Obama Administration budget for 2011. In terms of research, the proposed 2011 fiscal year budget provides $10 million for the establishment of five Regional Biofuels Feedstocks Research and Demonstration Centers, which will coordinate government research efforts to accelerate the development and deployment of dedicated energy feedstocks. 

A team of scientists at the University of Maryland, College Park, and Bowie State University received a $3.2 million, four-year biomass research grant from the National Science Foundation (NSF) last week to focus on improving several areas of this technology. This group will be investigating ways to turn poplar trees into high-yield crops for biofuels including ethanol, the primary renewable biofuel used in gasoline blends and flex-fuel vehicles. The hybrid trees would be grown on plantations and harvested without affecting existing woodlands to meet environmental constraints. 

The NSF Plant Genome Research Project supports research on plants considered to have economic and agricultural importance. These researchers are applying the recently completed poplar genome to improve the tree's nitrogen processing functionality, which will accelerate its growth rate and commercial viability in fuel production. The synthesis of ethanol fuel from fibrous plants is a well-developed field but for poplar to be a significant biofuel source, its growth cycle will need to be improved in terms of efficiency and speed, as nitrogen is an important factor in the growth and productivity of trees and crops. The research team, composed of metabolic engineers, geneticists and plant biologists, are examining how the thousands of genes in poplar are being switched on and off during the nitrogen storage cycle, measuring the rates of dozens of chemical reactions and evaluating the numerous proteins that facilitate this activity.

It will take many funded research projects of this nature focused on a wide variety of problems in the field in order for biomass to progress, as a major energy source in the U.S., as the country strives to meet lofty national energy standards in the next 10 years.

"Photo credit- www.dneplantationsllc.com : Biomass Cycle Symbolism"