The US Energy Information Administration recently released its latest Short-Term Energy Outlook (STEO), forecasting a decline in electricity usage this year. Total US electric power generation is anticipated to drop by 3 per cent in 2020, mostly in the form of fossil-fuel energy production.
The report forecasts a 20 per cent decline in coal-fired power generation due to decreasing demand from both domestic and foreign sources.
Renewable energy generation is expected to be the fastest-growing source of electrical power in 2020 even as additional capacity from new projects is stifled by the COVID-19 pandemic.
Consumption of wood biomass is expected to fall in 2020 in the residential, industrial, and electric power sectors by 0.6 per cent, 5.9 per cent, and 12.2 per cent respectively.
The EIA report forecasts a slight drop in electrical power generation from biomass sources, down 1.5 billion kWh from 28.8 billion kWh in 2019 to 27.3 billion kWh in 2020.
Consumption of biomass in the commercial sector in 2020 is expected to remain flat from 2019.
Total capacity of power generation from wood biomass sources is anticipated to reach 8,423 MW in 2020, down 0.1 per cent from 8,411 MW in 2019.
The full STEO can be found here: https://www.eia.gov/outlooks/steo/pdf/steo_full.pdf