There are a variety of technologies for the production of heat and electricity from biomass, including combustion, gasification, pyrolysis, hydrothermal liquefaction, and anaerobic digestion. Additionally, these technologies can be combined in the idea of the integrated biorefinery to produce electricity, heat, biofuels, and bioproducts. The main benefit to using these technologies is the reduction of greenhouse gas emissions, but there are still a number of challenges these technologies must overcome. For example, biomass continues to be high in moisture, low in density, unstable, and produces less energy than coal and natural gas, therefore increasing the cost per unit energy produced. Developing technology improve­ments and innovative uses will help overcome some of these challenges. For example, gasification and anaerobic digestion could be used in small modular systems with internal combustion or generators to provide electricity to remote areas. Small modular system could also be used to fill in gaps with distributed energy generation systems; however, large systems will continue to face issues with insufficient infrastructure, storage of large quantities of biomass requiring large areas, and current supply systems designed for local systems, and environmental regulations being driven by individual states.

There are a number of drivers that are pushing industry to adopt biopower technologies, including the Renewable Fuel Standard and the Renewable Portfolio Standards [30, 31]. These policies give a financial incentive to produce bioenergy. In spite of these policies, the increase in bioenergy production has not accelerated as expected. There are a variety of barriers that need to be addressed for the bioenergy industry to succeed. These include:

• Access to low cost sustainable biomass.

• Additional research into technologies that increase efficiencies and decrease operational costs.

• Additional policies and incentives, such as a CO2 tax.

The bioenergy industry has already proven to have a place in the overall energy portfolio and will continue to grow. The only questions are how fast and in what direction.