Executive Summary
Highlights
The biomass power industry is undergoing a new surge of growth in the United States. While
bioenergy has traditionally been used by certain sectors such as the paper-making industry, more
than 70 new wood-burning plants have been built or are underway since 2005, and another 75
proposed and in various stages of development, fueled by renewable energy subsidies and federal
tax credits. In most states, biomass power is subsidized along with solar and wind as green,
renewable energy, and biomass plant developers routinely tell host communities that biomass
power is “clean energy.”