Within renewables, biomass is expected to contribute 1.99% of U.S. renewable electricity generation this year, falling slightly to 1.81% in 2026, after accounting for 2.16% in 2024. In terms of power generation, U.S. biomass power generation is projected to reach 21 billion kWh this year and 20.7 billion kWh in 2026, up from 20.4 billion kWh in 2024.
Capacity levels for waste biomass and wood biomass in the electric power sector remained unchanged from the previous year, with 2.7 GW and 2.3 GW respectively, and are expected to stay the same in 2025 and 2026. Similarly, the industrial and commercial sectors had 5.4 GW of wood biomass capacity and 1.4 GW of waste biomass capacity at the end of 2024, which are also expected to be maintained in the coming years.
Consumption levels for waste and wood biomass vary across sectors. In the electric power sector, waste biomass consumption is expected to fall slightly this year before partially rebounding in 2026, while wood biomass consumption is projected to increase this year and then decrease slightly in 2026. The industrial sector is expected to consume less waste biomass but more wood biomass in the coming years, while the commercial sector is projected to consume slightly less of both types of biomass. The residential sector's consumption of wood biomass is expected to remain stable.
Overall, waste biomass consumption across all sectors was at 0.382 quad last year and is projected to remain relatively stable at 0.378 quad in both 2025 and 2026. Wood biomass consumption, on the other hand, is expected to increase from 1.865 quad in 2024 to 2.011 quad this year and 2.033 quad in 2026.
