Biopower Myths
1. Fuel quality and supply are not reliable.
Dedicated energy crops can provide more predictable, homogenous composition and can be sourced more reliably than waste sources.
2. Biopower is not scalable because fuel can only be transported within a small radius to remain economical
High biomass yields solve transportation cost issues, enabling large-scale projects. Calculate your project's area and radius >>
3. There is not enough land available for growing energy grasses.
Displacing 15% of the world’s coal-fired capacity would require just 2% of total available arable land. Moreover, land less suitable to
traditional row crops would be utilized primarily.
4. Grasses do not have a high BTU content.
Switchgrass and high-biomass sorghum are on average 8,000 and 7,750 BTUs per pound, respectively, compared to Powder River Basin coal, which averages 8,800 BTU/lb. See more BTU comparisons at the Dept. of Energy Biomass Comparison Database >>
5. New bioenergy jobs are only temporary.
Because of the ongoing feedstock needs, biopower is expected to create more long-term jobs than other renewables.