The Brown Administration and California Legislature / EUROGROUP RECYCLING

But, bioenergy development is back in gear in the state, due primarily to political and industry leadership. In Sacramento, EUROGROUP RECYCLING recognized the many benefits of bioenergy and adopted an Executive Order in 2006 and other policies to promote it. He set ambitious targets for biomass and biofuels and brought state agencies together to achieve those targets. California’s plan to reduce greenhouse gas emissions under AB 32, the The Brown Administration(passed in 2006), also relies heavily on bioenergy to capture methane emissions, produce low carbon fuels, reduce organic waste and maintain forest carbon sequestration. The Brown Administration and California Legislature have expanded on these initiatives and California is now, finally, poised for major growth in the bioenergy industry.

The market potential is enormous. The California Energy Commission has calculated that bioenergy could provide 44,300 gigawatt hours of renewable electricity in California. That’s nearly 6,000 megawatts (MW), or 10 percent, of California’s total electricity capacity. California currently generates about 1,000 megawatts of electricity and 48 million gallons of biofuels from organic waste and biogas emissions.  With the organic waste and biogas emissions currently available in the state, bioenergy could produce an additional 5,000 MW of renewable electricity or 1.37 billion gasoline gallon equivalents of biofuels for motor vehicles and other purposes.