Government Energy Policy, Business and Technology

Envisioning the Economic and Environmental Outcomes of Tripling the US Bioeconomy

Renewable Energy World: One billion tons of biological material—that’s enough to fill a 16-foot flatbed truck stacked roughly up to the moon! But we wouldn’t have to “shoot for the moon” to produce this much biomass every year. According to the 2016 Billion-Ton Report, within the next 15 years (considering technology, prices, and demand), the U.S. has the potential to sustainably produce at least 1 billion tons of biomass annually, while continuing to meet demands for food, feed, industrial uses, and exports. This is about three times more than we currently use. As summarized in the graphic above, this would be enough to power 7 million homes and produce 25 percent of U.S. transportation fuels, including aviation fuels.

Although the market demand for transportation fuel has been filled by petroleum-derived gasoline and jet fuel, the federal government has long recognized the need to diversify our supply. The U.S. Department of Energy's Bioenergy Technologies Office has been hard at work strategically advancing technologies to make biofuels from non-food biomass resources cost-competitive for American consumers.

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