When it comes to the use of biomass in producing electricity across the nation, the country’s deep south is leading the way.
While Oklahoma is considered part of the southern states creating the electricity, the increased use of biomass really occurred in Virginia, Florida and Georgia. US electricity generation, according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration, grew from 56 gigawatthours in 2010 to 4 GWh in 2015.
The states where the biomass increase occurred the most have ample forest resources, and relatively unfavorable solar resources such as those compared to the Southwest.
Virginia has a statewide program to convert coal plants to biomass including several that made the conversion three years ago. In 2012, Mille-Coors Brewing also opened a biomass-based electricity plant in Elkton, Virginia to dispose of brewing wastes.
The increases in electricity generation from biomass in Georgia and Florida were each due mostly because of a single new plant that came online. Florida also opened one of the largest new biomass plants in the country, a 102.5 MSW Gainesville Renewable Energy Center.
Biomass use in the Western part of the U.S. increased by 15% from 2010 to 2015.
