As we enter the new year, I’ve been reflecting on the stories and topics that garnered the most interest in 2024. Biomass Magazine covers a wide array of technologies, products and markets—biomass’s extremely versatile nature is one of its strongest selling points—so it can be tricky to gauge. But based on hits, reader inquiries, conference and event attendance, as well as conversations that I’ve had, the following are some (not all) of the hottest topics of the past year, and I expect that we’ll be giving them ample coverage throughout 2025.&nbsp;Decarbonization. Yes, this one is broad, but we’ve seen the buzzwords used to describe the industry’s collective efforts to increase the deployment of bioenergy evolve—I am confident that this one will stick. We are in the midst of a truly unprecedented, global, all-hands-on-deck initiative to decrease—reverse—carbon emissions, from energy production to manufacturing to transportation. Biogas and RNG, wood pellets, renewable diesel and sustainable aviation fuel, waste wood-fueled combined-heat-and-power, energy crops, biochar and the list of feedstocks and technologies goes on and on—they are all excellent candidates to assist in this effort.Biocarbon. Whether its biocoal, biochar or torrefied pellets, biocarbon to replace fossil fuels— especially in heavy industry—is here. Steel, cement and other energy-intensive commodity producers are searching for economic and efficient ways to reduce their consumption of fossil fuels, and this is an option that can work under the right circumstances. One of the most popular stories of the year among Biomass Magazine and sister publication Pellet Mill Magazine was “The Cutting Edge of Cutting Carbon,” which focused on the creation of SDI Biocarbon Solutions—a 200,000-metric-ton biocarbon plant under construction in Columbus, Mississippi—which will supply Steel Dynamics with fuel to replace anthracite coal. Throughout 2025, I believe we will see many similar initiatives quietly unfold (these projects don’t typically stoke a lot of attention—for understandable reasons. These are firsts, and that always comes with considerable risk).&nbsp;Sustainable aviation fuel. Sustainable aviation fuel seemingly happened overnight. The U.S. SAF Grand Challenge made its debut along with the Inflation Reduction Act in 2021, and three years later, solid progress has been made. That said, we have a very long, long way to go to achieve the ultimate goal of net-zero aviation emissions by 2050, which equates to 35 billion gallons of SAF production annually. We’re not only seeing robust activity from the stories and news coming across our desks every single day, but at all of our events featuring SAF content—including the International Biomass Conference &amp; Expo, Sustainable Fuels Summit and North American SAF Conference &amp; Expo—the number of presentations, attendees, exhibitors, etc., have reflected this momentum. At the latter conference alone, attendance in just one year doubled, and we fully expect it to happen again in 2025.&nbsp;Renewable natural gas. This industry continues to amaze, and it’s also one that oil and gas companies (and many other players) are investing billions in. If you received our 2025 North American Renewable Natural Gas map, you’ll see the industry is (still) exploding, largely driven by the federal Renewable Fuel Standard and the California Low Carbon Fuel Standard. The number of U.S. facilities from 2021 to 2024 nearly doubled (reportedly now 440-plus, with a few hundred more planned or under construction). One of the news stories in this issue discusses a recent report released by the RNG Coalition, which found that in 2024, RNG contributed an astounding $7.2 billion to the U.S. gross domestic product in 2024.&nbsp;While there are many other topics I could discuss, I’m running out of room in this column. I hope you enjoy the stories in this issue, many of which fall under these categories. If there’s a topic you would like to see covered this year—or if you have a contribution or news to share—send me a note at asimet@bbiinternational.com. &nbsp;Author: Anna Simet&nbsp; Editor&nbsp; asimet@bbiinternational.com

2025-01-17 - Reflecting on the Year and Looking Ahead (Biomass Magazine)

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Editor's note from Biomass Magazine Issue 1, 2024

Reflecting on the Year and Looking Ahead

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