NREL updates national US biomass availability maps

In Colorado, the National Renewable Energy Laboratory has updated its Renewable Energy Technology Resource Maps for the United States. The Dynamic Maps, GIS Data and Analysis Tools Web site provide dynamically-generated maps of renewable energy resources that determine which energy technologies are viable solutions in national and international regions.

NREL maintains an FTP site where data and Geospatial Toolkits can be downloaded.

The definitive work to date on biomass availability is the “Biomass as feedstock for a Bioenergy and Bioproducts industry: The technical feasibility of a billion-ton annual supply” study completed by Oak Ridge National Laboratory in 2005, and downloadable here.

NREL also recently debuted  a new, online interactive map showing the locations of 2,000+ E85 fuel stations around the country. The map plots the location of ethanol plants as well as E85 stations, and includes propane, hydrogen, and other alternative fuel locations.

Elsewhere, the International Energy Agency earlier this year completed its mapping of global second-generation biofuels demo plants and projects, now available here.

The interactive map allows for searching by type of plant (biochemical, thermochemical or hybrid), scale (pilot, demo or commercial) and status (planned,on hold, under construction, under commissioning, or operational).

Each individual entry includes data on the project name, location, technology, output, facility type, total investment and a technology brief on each project, plus contact information and project photos.

The international project, part of Task 39 of the IEA Bioenergy project, was completed by a team led by Bioenergy 2020+ researcher Dina Bacovsky in Austria and supported by Biofuel Digest among other organizations. Thank you to the many projects which submitted data!

Currently, more than 50 2nd generation projects are listed and more are being added as projects report their data.

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