Biomass is expected to account for 1.98% of U.S. renewable electricity generation this year, falling to 1.82% in 2026. Biomass accounted for 2.17% of U.S. renewable electricity generation in 2024.
Biomass is expected to be used to generate 21 billion kilowatt hours (kWh) of electricity in 2025, falling to 20.7 billion kWh next year. Biomass generation was at 20.5 billion kWh in 2024.
The electric power sector had 2.7 gigawatt (GW) of waste biomass capacity and 2.3 GW of wood biomass capacity in place at the end of 2024. Those levels of capacity are expected to remain unchanged in 2025 and 2026.
The industrial and commercial sectors had 5.4 GW of wood biomass capacity and 1.4 GW of waste biomass capacity in place at the end of last year. Those levels of capacity are also expected to remain unchanged this year and next year.
The electric power sector consumed 0.158 quadrillion Btu (quad) of waste biomass last year, with consumption expected to be at 0.155 quad in 2025 and 0.156 quad in 2026. The sector also consumed 0.158 quad of wood biomass in 2024, with consumption expected to expand to 0.168 quad this year before falling slightly to 0.163 quad in 2026.
The industrial sector is expected to consume 0.152 quad of waste biomass in both 2025 and 2026, down from 0.154 quad in 2024. The sector also consumed 1.237 quad of wood biomass last year, with consumption expected to increase to 1.359 quad in 2025 and 1.388 quad in 2026.
The commercial sector consumed 0.071 quad of waste biomass last year, with consumption expected to fall to 0.07 quad this year and remain at that level in 2026. The sector also consumed 0.072 quad of wood biomass in 2024 with that level of consumption expected to be maintained this year and next year.
The residential sector consumed 0.415 quad of wood biomass in 2024. That level of consumption is expected to be unchanged in both 2025 and 2026.
Across all sectors, waste biomass consumption was at 0.382 quad in 2024 and is expected to fall to 0.378 quad in 2025 and remain at that level in 2026. Wood biomass consumption as at 1.881 quad in 2024 and is expected to expand to 2.014 quad in 2025 and 2.037 quad in 2026.
