The Great Lakes region receives 4 percent of its energy needs from biomass resources, according to a regional biomass energy program. But some estimates put the potential for biomass at 15 to 20 percent.
Biomass resources include wood and other organic materials. People switch to wood energy to replace fossil fuels and reduce greenhouse gas emissions.
The University of Tennessee mapped industrial facilities using biomass power. For the Great Lakes region, see: Minnesota, Wisconsin, Illinois, Indiana, Michigan, Ohio, Pennsylvania and New York. And in Canada, see Ontario.
The university’s Office of Bioenergy Programs created a project called Wood2Energy that examines the latest wood to energy research and technologies.
The project features a database and mashups of industrial facilities using wood as a fuel source.
Each state has its own map with icons that represent the facilities. Some of the icons have information about the technology used and energy produced at that facility.