Sustainable Bioenergy, Farms, and Forests - July 15, 2016

More Than One Billion Tons of Sustainable Biomass Could Be In Our Future

Can the United States sustainably produce a billion tons of biomass, in addition to food, feed and fiber production each year? A new report from the Department of Energy’s Bioenergy Technology Office (BETO), says that yes, by 2040, the United States could actually get to 1.5 billion tons of sustainable biomass production, replacing more than 30 percent of domestic petroleum use and spurring the additional use of biomass as feedstocks for chemicals and biobased products.

On June 12, BETO released the 2016 Billion-Ton Report, detailing the future resource availability of biomass; USDA data formed the basis for the report’s forecasts. The report is the third in the series, the first Billion-Ton study came out in 2005 and was updated in 2011. This new report, BT16 for short, updates information in the previous report and includes several new interest areas. To learn more about the report, attend EESI’s upcoming Briefing “Building a Billion-Ton Bioeconomy."  

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Headlines

1. Nearly 42,500 Comments Filed on 2017 RFS Proposal

2. House Gives Thumbs-Up to GMO Label Law; Bill goes to Obama

3. Bishop: Nothing Ruled Out for Energy Bill Conference, Including Drought, Wildfire

4. Senators Push to Extend Biodiesel Tax Credits

5. Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack: Potential Clinton VP Pick

 

 

Upcoming Event:

2) Building a Billion-Ton Bioeconomy

Tuesday, July 19
1:30 pm - 3:00 pm

1300 Longworth House Office Building
Independence Avenue SE and New Jersey Avenue SE

Please RSVP to expedite check-in

The Environmental and Energy Study Institute (EESI) invites you to a briefing assessing the ability of the United States to sustainably produce 1 billion tons of renewable non-food biomass every year. This could potentially displace more than 30 percent of the country's petroleum consumption. The briefing will focus on key findings from volume 1 of the 2016 Billion-Ton Update, which examines the technical feasibility of a billion-ton annual biomass supply chain by 2040. The 2016 report, to be released at the Bioenergy 2016 conference in mid-July, builds and expands on previous Billion-Ton studies, released in 2005 and 2011 by the Department of Energy's Bioenergy Technologies Office (BETO).

 

To Contact the Editor: Jessie Stolark at [email protected]

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