A survey of state clean energy fund support for biomass

This survey reviews efforts by CESA member clean energy funds to promote the use of biomass as a renewable energy source. For each fund, details are provided regarding biomass eligibility for support, specific programs offering support to biomass projects, and examples of supported biomass projects (if available). For the purposes of this survey, biomass is defined to include bio-product gasification, combustion, co-firing, biofuel production, and the combustion of landfill gas, though not all of the programs reviewed here take so wide a definition. Programs offered by non-CESA member funds fall outside the scope of this survey. To date, three funds--the California Energy Commission, Wisconsin Focus on Energy, and the New York State Energy Research and Development Authority--have offered programs targeted specifically at the use of biomass as a renewable energy source. We begin by reviewing efforts in these three funds, and then proceed to cover programs in other funds that have provided support to biomass projects when the opportunity has arisen, but otherwise do not differentially target biomass relative to other renewable technologies