According to the U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) Short-Term Energy Outlook released on August 6, renewable energy sources are projected to contribute 23% of U.S. electricity generation in 2024, with this share increasing to 25% by 2025. This compares to 21% in 2023.
Biomass energy is expected to make up 2.23% of the renewable electricity share in 2024, dropping to 2.03% in 2025. In 2023, biomass accounted for 2.44% of the nation’s renewable electricity.
Last year, biomass produced 21.1 billion kilowatt-hours (kWh) of electricity. This level is expected to remain steady through 2024 before increasing to 21.4 billion kWh in 2025. The electric power sector had 2.8 gigawatts (GW) of waste biomass capacity and 2.3 GW of wood biomass capacity at the end of 2023. These levels are anticipated to stay constant in 2024 and 2025.
In the industrial and commercial sectors, there was 5.2 GW of wood biomass capacity in 2023, projected to stay at that level in 2024 and rise to 5.3 GW in 2025. The same sectors had 1.4 GW of waste biomass capacity last year, expected to remain unchanged in 2024 but decrease to 1.3 GW in 2025.
The electric power sector consumed 0.167 quadrillion British thermal units (Btu) of waste biomass in 2023. Consumption is projected to decrease to 0.164 quad this year and rise slightly to 0.165 quad in 2025. Wood biomass consumption in the sector was 0.162 quad last year, with an expected increase to 0.169 quad in 2024 and 0.172 quad in 2025.
In the industrial sector, waste biomass consumption was 0.16 quad in 2023, with a forecasted increase to 0.162 quad this year, holding steady through 2025. Wood biomass consumption was 1.224 quad in 2023, expected to reach 1.294 quad in 2024 and 1.369 quad in 2025.
The commercial sector used 0.071 quad of waste biomass in 2023, projected to stay at 0.072 quad in both 2024 and 2025. Wood biomass consumption in this sector was 0.082 quad last year, expected to remain constant.
Residential consumption of wood biomass was 0.45 quad in 2023, predicted to fall to 0.435 quad this year and maintain that level through 2025.
Overall, waste biomass consumption was 0.398 quad in 2023, expected to slightly increase to 0.399 quad in 2024 and 2025. Wood biomass consumption was 1.918 quad last year, with projections of 1.98 quad in 2024 and 2.059 quad in 2025.