Joe Romm: Biomass Co-Firing

Biomass co-firing, mixing materials such as wood or agricultural waste with more traditional fuel sources such as coal, is the topic of an interesting discussion at Climate Progress.

I first started analyzing the carbon benefits of cofiring biomass with coal in 1997 when I was overseeing a study by five U.S. national laboratories that examined what an aggressive technology-based strategy built around energy efficiency and renewable energy could achieve in terms of emissions reductions. With supporting analysis done by the Electric Power Research Institute, the Five Lab Study concluded that biomass cofiring was the single biggest potential contributor to near-term greenhouse gas reductions of any renewable energy strategy.

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