Biomass: Across the Earth
Fuelwood in poorer countries, power plants in richer ones
What this tab covers How the resource varies with latitude, climate, terrain and geology: the richest and poorest regions and the leading countries.Productivity is highest in the wet tropics and lowest in deserts and tundra; use is split between traditional fuelwood in poorer countries and modern bioenergy in China, Brazil, the United States, India and Europe.
NPP rises with warmth and rainfall: tropical rainforests and savannas account for over 60% of land production, deserts and tundra for under 3%. On land, NPP per square metre is about three times that of the open ocean.
Rich and poor regions
| Region | Resource | Level |
|---|---|---|
| Tropical rainforests | 17.8 Pg C/yr1 | high |
| Savannas | 16.8 Pg C/yr1 | high |
| Cultivated land | 8.0 Pg C/yr1 | medium |
| Needleleaf evergreen (boreal and temperate) forests | 3.1 Pg C/yr1 | medium |
| Tundra | 0.8 Pg C/yr1 | low |
| Deserts | 0.5 Pg C/yr1 | low |
Top countries by bioenergy power capacity 2022 6
| Country | GW |
|---|---|
| China | 34 |
| Brazil | 17 |
| United States | 11 |
| India | 10 |
Traditional use of biomass (wood, charcoal, dung and crop waste burned for cooking and heating) makes up more than half of all bioenergy use, mainly in Asia and Africa; in sub-Saharan Africa only 17% of people had access to clean cooking in 2020. Modern bioenergy is concentrated elsewhere: China generated 172 TWh of biomass electricity in 2022, over a quarter of the world total, the United States and Brazil produced more than 80% of the world's ethanol in 2021, and Europe accounts for 90% of bioheat produced from municipal waste, solid biofuels and biogas (REN21).