Institutional issues facing California's biomass energy industry and the role of a collaborative

At an installed capacity of approximately 850 megawatts (MW), California has the single largest biomass energy industry of any state in the country. While renewable energy sources provide only six percent of California's electricity capacity, with biomass representing approximately thirty-five percent of the state's renewable mix, the biomass energy industry provides California with a number of important benefits. California's biomass energy industry represents an investment of approximately $2 billion in fuel collection, processing, transportation and energy conversion infrastructure, generates over $110 million in state and local taxes, has contributed over 30,000 skilled jobs to the state's economy, has prevented close to 70,000 tons per year of air pollution that would otherwise be emitted from open burning or agricultural and forestry wastes, and has conserved over four million tons per year of California's landfill capacity. However, California's biomass energy industry faces a number of technical, economic, environmental and institutional issues it must overcome if it is to continue to be a valuable component in the state's electricity generation sector. This paper addresses the governmentally controlled or open-quotes institutionalclose quotes issues that must be addressed by the industry, and the role of a collaborative process in helping to address and resolve these issues