Biomass Energy

Biomass energy comes from any renewable organic matter (trees, plants and associated residues) that can be burned to generate heat or electricity. For information on biomass that can be made into liquid or gaseous fuels, see our resources for biofuels and biogas digesters.

General Information

Research & Publications

Feedstock Resources

Case Studies

General Information

Biomass FAQ – CERTs

Biomass Resources – U.S. Department of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy

Biomass FAQs – Renewable Energy Policy Project
Included on the Renewable Energy Policy Project website that covers a broad range of biomass information from feedstock descriptions to prices to associated environmental impacts.

Biomass Energy Resources and Information – Fresh Energy
Extensive resources with a Midwest focus.

Minnesota Renewable Energy Incentives – State Energy Office
A cheat sheet of Minnesota incentives for renewable energy projects, including those that involve biomass.

Power Plant Facility Siting & Permiting – Minnesota Public Utilities Commission (PUC)
The MN Public Utilities Commission has responsibility for the site and route permitting of certain energy facilities, including electric power plants generating more than 50 megawatts.

Research & Publications

Biomass Harvesting of Native Grasslands in West Central Minnesota: A Production Scale Pilot Study – Joel Tallaksen, University of Minnesota – Morris West Central Outreach Center, December 2007

AURI Fuels Initiative – Agricultural Utilization Research Institute
A comparative guide for agricultural renewable fuels.

Energy from Biomass – Loni Kemp, The Minnesota Project
This article details the three most popular Minnesota energy crops (corn, alfalfa, and hybrid poplar) that could be as biomass fuels.

Biomass for Electricity Generation – U.S. Department of Energy
This article details biomass feedstock supply curves – how much the various feedstocks cost, the likely supply quantity, and how much it would cost to transport them – and provides predictions regarding energy generation potential.

A New Lease on Life for Marginal Farmland: Convergence of prairie restoration with biofuel production – Borsari, B. and Onwueme, I., June 2008
The prairie ecosystem that occupied most of the North American continent has been mostly converted into agricultural farmland. The looming global scarcity of fossil fuels has spurred interest in producing ethanol from corn (Zea mays) but legitimate objections remain to the idea of supporting this vision. The purpose of this study was to initiate a prairie restoration on marginal soil of a 16.2-hectare farm in southeastern Minnesota and to determine which restoration procedure (only native grass species versus a mixture of grasses and forbs) was most effective for the establishment of prairie on the land that may yield biomass for biofuels.

A Landowner’s Guide to Carbon Sequestration Credits – MN Terrestrial Carbon Sequestration Initiative, February 2008
This guide offers a path for local landowners to earn additional income while helping diminish adverse effects of global climate change through implementation of carbon sequestration and other stackable incentives.

Short Rotation Woody Crops: A Role for the State of Minnesota – Center for Rural Policy and Development, Minnesota State University, Mankato
This policy paper focuses on producing short rotation woody crops, and discusses economic and environmental benefits and barriers associated with growing woody crops on agricultural lands.

Renewable Energy from Farms: Building on the Principles of Sustainable Agriculture to Achieve Sustainable Energy – Carl Nelson, The Minnesota Project
This is a position paper of the Midwest Sustainable Agriculture Working Group, June 2002.

Biomass Research and Development Initiative – US DOE, USDA, and others
BR&Di is the multi-agency effort to coordinate and accelerate all Federal biobased products and bioenergy research and development.

Burning Shelled Corn as Fuel – Penn State
A wealth of information on this topic.

Woody Biomass Harvesting & Utilization Workshop Presentations – University of Minnesota Extension

Feedstock Resources

Minnesota Biomass Exchange
This website, from the Agricultural Utilization Research Institute (AURI), Clean Energy Resource Teams (CERT), the Minnesota Department of Commerce, the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources, the University of Minnesota, and the Green Institute connects buyers and sellers of biomass with online listings.

Biomass Feedstock Availability in the United States – Bioenergy Feedstock Information Network
A gateway to a wealth of biomass feedstock information resources from the U.S. Department of Energy, Oak Ridge National Laboratory, Idaho National Laboratory, National Renewable Energy Laboratory, and other research organizations.

Forestry Inventory and Map Maker – US Forest Service
This tool allows users to break down forestry inventory information by county. Users can query for inventories ranging from area of timberland or forestland to number of live trees on timberland or from volume of sawtimber on timberland to all live biomass on forestland.