Greentech Lead America: Biomass based power consumption
is projected to grow at 8 percent annual growth rate, according to the Annual
Energy Outlook (AEO) for 2013 released by the U.S. Energy Information
Administration (EIA).
The AEO 2013 projects a healthy 2 percent annual growth
rate of renewable power production from a current a level of 8.8 quads to 14.6
quads by 2040.
Among the renewable power sources, solar photovoltaic is
projected to show the greatest annual rate of growth.
Conventional hydroelectric currently makes up the
greatest portion of renewable power, but, not surprisingly, hydro is projected
to have the lowest annual growth rate since all the prime areas for large
hydroelectric dams have either already been developed or are protected wildlife
areas
AEO 2013 projects that dedicated biomass power production
will climb at a steady rate of around 3 percent, while cofiring will have a
rapid period of growth from 2016 to 2022 and then level off. With the sharp six
year climb, cofiring biomass demonstrates the greatest annual growth rate among
the biomass sources at nearly 13 percent.
The EIA states that the projected spike in cofiring
biomass is due to competitive biomass prices related to coal, stringent air
emission regulation, and state renewable portfolio standards (RPSs).
The AEO 2013 anticipates that coal fired plants will
choose to save money, improve emissions and help meet RPSs by cofiring small
amounts of biomass (2-4 percent of fuel mix) with coal. In 2022, cofiring
levels off due to the logistics of handling less energy dense biomass and the
physical limits of burning biomass in coal boilers among numerous other
factors.