Talking Points

Biomass is a renewable source of energy.

• Biomass is plant material and animal waste used to produce energy.
• It is the oldest form of renewable energy known to humans.
• The energy that biomass materials contain comes directly from the sun.
• Plants store the sun’s energy like batteries. When these materials are combusted they release that energy, which can be trapped to produce steam, heat water, or make electricity.
• As long as we do not use more biomass than we can regenerate through dedicated croplands and other sources, biomass is a sustainable and clean source of renewable energy.

Biomass has tremendous potential as an energy source.

• Currently, biomass accounts for less than 2% of America’s electricity consumption.
• Estimates differ widely, but even a conservative estimate by the U.S. Department of Energy suggests that biomass could provide 5% of our nation’s electricity by 2010.
• Other groups, such as the Electric Power Research Institute and the Union of Concerned Scientists, estimate that biomass could provide anywhere between 8 and 16 percent of our nation’s electric capacity without displacing critical food crops.

Making energy from biomass is good for the environment.

• Biomass energy can reduce air pollution, provide important wildlife habitat, reduce soil erosion, and improve soil quality.
• Biomass crops need carbon dioxide to thrive, meaning that all of the CO2 released by their combustion is removed from the atmosphere as they grow. The process provides no net increase in atmospheric carbon dioxide levels. 
• Fossil fuels, on the other hand, represent carbon which has been trapped underground. When these fuels are burned they release carbon that would not otherwise have made its way into the atmosphere, thus contributing to climate change.
• Because biomass crops are typically native species, such as fast-growing switchgrass, poplar, or maple, they provide better habitat for local wildlife than food crops.
• Biomass crops tend to have deeper root structures that help prevent soil erosion and return important nutrients to the ground.
• Because biomass crops are replanted far less frequently than food crops – usually between every 10 and 30 years – less destructive plowing is required.

Developing biomass programs is good for the economy.

• Rural economies can be revitalized by biomass projects. 
• Biomass production provides farmers with new markets for their crops and new planting options.
• Investment in biomass conversion technologies can create high-skill, high-wage jobs for the producers of these technologies and the industry or utility that uses them.
• Rural economies can become energy self-sufficient by using locally grown crops to generate electricity for their homes and fuels for their cars.
• Biomass already supports 66,000 jobs and the Environmental Law and Policy Center believes that that number can quadruple by 2010.

Using biomass to supplement and displace fossil fuels heightens our energy security.

• By growing our fuels at home, we reduce the need to import oil and reduce our exposure to disruption in that supply.
• We must ensure that we define biomass in a way that maximizes its potential as a green source of energy. 
• Allowing the inclusion of slow-growth trees, vital forest resources, and certain components of municipal solid waste encourages needless logging, eliminates important wildlife habitat, and threatens to foul our air with dangerous emissions from household contaminants.