The 2016 Billion-ton Report: Towards Commercialization

Presenter: Matthew Langholtz, Natural Resource & Environmental Economist, Oak Ridge
National Laboratory

Hosted by: Southeast Partnership for Integrated Biomass Supply Systems (IBSS)

The 2016 Billion-ton report (BT16) is third in series of reports evaluating potential biomass resource supply of the conterminous United States. The 2005 Billion-Ton Study (BTS) identified the potential to produce upwards of 1 billion dry tons of biomass annually on the United States, sufficient to displace 30 percent of then-current petroleum consumption. 2011 Billion-Ton Update (BT2) modeled potential economic availability under assumed market and yield scenarios.

Building on these previous analyses, the BT16

1. updates the farmgate/roadside analysis using latest-available data and specified enhancements,
2. adds additional feedstocks, including algae and specified biomass crops, and
3. expands the analysis to include transportation costs to biorefineries under specified logistical assumptions.

The 2016 Billion-Ton Report (BT16) is to be released in two volumes.

• Volume 1 of the BT16 focuses on resource analysis as described above.
• Volume 2 of the BT16, targeted for release in early 2017, evaluates changes in select environmental indicators (water quality, water quantity, greenhouse gas emissions, air quality, soil organic carbon, and biodiversity) associated with select production scenarios of the BT16 Volume 1.

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