🌲 Can the United States produce >1 billion tons of biomass / year? 🌾

🌱 The groundbreaking ‘2023 Billion-Ton Report’ by the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) shows that the U.S. can sustainably 3x its production of biomass to more than one billion tons annually! All while still meeting the projected demand for food, feed, fiber, conventional forest products, and exports.

🇺🇸 Currently the U.S. uses approximately 342 million tons of biomass. The utilisation of resources currently being landfilled could + 350 million tons, while maturing the market for energy crops could + 400 million tons, which together could provide 15% of future U.S. energy needs.

🤔 What does this mean for carbon dioxide removal (#CDR) technologies, particularly Biomass Carbon Removal and Storage (BiCRS), such as Biochar Carbon Removal (BCR), Bioenergy with Carbon Capture and Storage (#BECCS), Bio-Oil Injection, and Wood Harvest and Storage (WHS)?

🚀 The projected price points and increased availability of sustainably sourced biomass can enhance the viability and scalability of BiCRS, further consolidating their position as crucial components of a broader climate strategy.

💵 And this approach is gaining traction and interest. In case you haven’t heard, Frontier just announced its offtake with Vaulted Deep in a $58.3M deal to remove 152K of CO2 between 2024 and 2027 by injecting carbon-rich organic waste deep underground for permanent storage. 

♻️ Vaulted Deep spun out of and uses core tech from an industrial waste management company, Advantek Waste Management. Their approach offers 10K+ year permanence, near-term scalability, local co-benefits and has a line of sight to under $100 cost per ton.

💭The DOE’s national-scale resource mapping is integral not only for CDR but for countries to unlock the full potential of their renewable resources, fostering a more sustainable future. 

❓What do you think? Could this exercise in resources availability projection be useful for understanding the future of BiCRS?

🔗 For more very interesting projections, find the report here.

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