Tracking Biomass and Waste Energy across the USA

TRACKING BIOMASS AND WASTE ENERGY ACROSS THE USA

February 2012 edition
Capacity, generation and consumption data for biomass and waste energy at the national U.S. and individual State level.
Data coverage is for the latest month, year to date, last 12 months and last 36 months.
updated with October 2011 data

Summary

In October 2011, a cumulative 11,443 MW of biomass and waste energy capacity across the USA generated 4,545 GWh of electricity. 85 MW of capacity have been added year to date and electricity generation from biomass and waste energy sources is -2.78% lower than the same period the previous year. Biomass and waste energy now accounts for 1.09% of total capacity across the USA and has accounted for 0.60% of all added capacity year to date.

Primary energy production from biomass and waste energy sources equalled 378 Trillion BTUs in October 2011, with 78.20% of primary energy consumption being attributed to the 2 principal sectors : Industrial (188.0 Tn BTUs, 50.9%) and Transportation (100.7 Tn BTUs, 27.3%). Consumption of biomass and waste energy has increased by 2.06% on a year to date basis compared with 2010, whilst total consumption has increased by 0.56% in the same period. Year to date, biomass and waste accounted for 4.47% of total Primary Energy consumption; 47.86% of Renewable Energy (inclusive hydroelectricity) and 74.71% of Non-Hydro Renewable Energy Primary Energy consumption.

The 4,545 GWh of electricity generated in October 2011 from biomass and waste power sources came primarily from CHP Industrial (2,195GWh, 48.29%) and IPPs (1,911GWh, 42.05%). As of October, 43 States had generated a total of 45,564 gigawatthours* of electricity from Biomass and Waste Energy in 2011. California had generated the most with 5,114GWh (11.24% of the total) whilst New Mexico generated the least (3GWh, 0.01%).

In October 2011, no biomass and waste energy capacity was added across the USA, bringing the cumulative total of installed capacity to 11,443 MW, an increase of 0.93% on the cumulative installed base in October 2010. Biomass and waste energy capacity as a percentage of total energy capacity has decreased by 0.01 percentage points since October 2010.

As of October 2011, 46 States had installed biomass and waste energy capacity, 14 have added new capacity in 2011 whilst 17 have added new capacity since October 2010. The top 10 States with the largest cumulative installed biomass and waste capacity were : California, Florida, Maine, Virginia, Georgia, Alabama, Pennsylvania, New York, Washington, Michigan.

No new biomass or waste energy plants became operational across the USA in October 2011. 240 companies had installed biomass capacity as of October 2011 with a combined cumulative capacity of 11,443 megawatts. The top 20 companies accounted for 62.86% of this total capacity.

This is just a snapshop of generation, consumption and capacity trends for biomass and waste energy across the USA. The full report 'Tracking Biomass and Waste Energy across the USA' contains 90 pages of detailed tables, charts, maps and analysis and is updated monthly. Similar reports are also available for geothermal energy, hydroelectricity, solar energy and wind energy.