The USDA and UDOE Advisory Committee determined it would take approximately 1 billion tons of biomass per year to sufficiently displace 30% or more of the country's present petroleum consumption.

According to the April 2005 study conducted by these agencies, there is over 1.3 billion tons per year of biomass potential just from forestland and agricultural land. This alone is sufficient to justify the capital costs necessary to convert to biomass based energy. The entire report can be found at http://www.eere.energy.gov/biomass/publications.html.

Putting it in Perspective:

The amount of biomass removed from thinning 8,000 acres is around 120,000 green tons. Our pellet plant in Show Low requires approximately that amount annually to produce 50,000 tons of fuel. This amount of fuel can heat about 25 million square feet. That is enough to heat the air and water for all the schools, hospitals, county offices, and prisons in the area. Plus it creates local jobs, increases localized economic prosperity and helps maintain healthy forests.

If we can use our resources efficiently, we can stretch the supply even further.

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