Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) Countries

Biomass accounts for some 3% of the energy supply in OECD countries (http://www.oecd.org/). In fact, renewables as a whole correspond to only 5.7% of the total primary energy supply in OECD countries, of which about half is being used to generate electricity. The use of solid biomass has had a positive development in OECD countries, showing an annual increase of 1.8% since 1990 as opposed to 1.5% in non-OECD countries. The segments utilizing municipal solid waste and producing liquid biomass exhibit faster growth (IEA 2006).

Although electricity demand is growing by more than 2% per year in OECD countries, electricity generation from renewables has only grown by 0.8% per year since 1990. The participation of renewables in the total supply of electricity has decreased in absolute terms in many regions of the OECD since the late 1990s, particularly in the US. The European Unions use of renewables, on the other hand, has experienced continuous growth since 1990, thanks to supportive policies, particularly those related to urban waste handling (IEA 2006).

Biomass only corresponds to 1% of the world electricity generation. More specifically, electricity generation from solid biomass has shown an average increase of 2.7% per year and some 20 TWh (terrawatt-hour) have been added to the supply base of OECD countries since 1990, denoting a slight increase in the share of biomass for electricity generation in OECD countries. In fact, renewable municipal waste and biogas are becoming increasingly important in OECD countries. Though both are still at an initial stage, significant growth in these segments can be expected in the years to come. Heat production from biomass has also increased substantially, both in plants that produce only heat and in combined heat and power plants (CHPs).