Wood biomass consumption to drop, waste biomass to grow says EIA outlook

The US Energy Information Administration (EIA) has released its Short Term Energy Outlook for July.

Total renewables consumption is forecast to grow over the next couple of years, according to the EIA figures. While total consumption was 11.016 quadrillion (British Thermal Units) in 2017 (up from 1o.256 quadrillion BTU in 2016), it is expected to reach 11.383 quadrillion BTU by the end of this year, and 11.666 quadrillion BTU by the end of next.

According to the figures, solar and wind have seen the most consistent growth in consumption since 2016. Solar has risen from 0.569 quadrillion BTU in 2016, to a forecast 1.096 quadrillion BTU in 2019. Wind meanwhile, has risen from 2.113 quadrillion BTU to 2.640 quadrillion BTU.

Wood biomass remains the biggest contributor to the US energy consumption after wind and solar. However, following steady growth in consumption from 2016 to 2018, a slight drop off is expected between 2018 and 2019, from 2.177 quadrillion BTU to 2.166 quadrillion BTU.

Following a brief dip in 2017 meanwhile, waste biomass consumption is forecast to grow from 0.482 quadrillion BTU in 2017 to 0.667 quadrillion BTU in 2019.

The full EIA Short Term Outlook for July is available here.