Biomass producer Enviva's recent bankruptcy filing is being considered a sign of the industry's volatility.
Recent financial challenges have hampered the world's largest biomass producer but some feel it has been a long time coming. Studies show biomass companies rely heavily on government subsidies stemming from biomass' status in some states and countries as a clean renewable resource.
Heather Hillaker, senior attorney for the Southern Environmental Law Center, said it is not the case.
"The use of the wood pellets to generate energy emits a large quantity of carbon dioxide but it is assumed to be carbon-neutral because at some point the trees will regrow and they will reabsorb the carbon that's emitted," Hillaker explained. "What that fails to consider is the time lag, the carbon debt period, as it's referred to."
A 2023 study finds biomass facility emissions are almost three times higher than other fossil-fuel energies. While Enviva has been allowed to restructure, Hillaker noted it could have ripple effects for the biomass industry.
Despite its challenges, biomass remains one of many energy sources in Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin's All of the Above Energy Plan. Amendments have been approved to keep biomass plants open as the state works toward its 2050 carbon-neutral goals.
Along with environmental impacts, biomass can be detrimental to human health. The World Health Organization found indoor air pollution from biomass is a top risk for the global burden of disease.
Hillaker pointed out biomass facilities create large amounts of fugitive dust in often overburdened environmental justice communities.
"Fugitive dust is really just particulate matter," Hillaker said. "But it's particulate matter that doesn't come out of a stack, really. It kind of wafts off of the facility. Oftentimes for wood pellet mills, it's woody debris coming off the facility in the breeze or in the wind."
She added the dust keeps people from being able to open their windows or having large dust accumulations gather in air filters. People living in close range of biomass facilities could face health effects such as asthma or cardiovascular disease.
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Despite last-minute concessions in the Trump administration's budget, which removes alternative energy tax incentives, rural Alaska power providers now face huge obstacles to distributing power to the most rural and isolated parts of the state.
Investments in wind and solar power now face an uphill battle. Alaska's extreme weather and challenging geography already make power generation difficult and expensive. Now, with fewer incentives to diversify, the state's most isolated places will be forced to continue relying on fossil fuels for their electricity.
Pierre Lonewolf, board member of the Kotzebue Electric Association, said the loss of tax incentives means critical alternative energy programs are dead in the water.
"That has put the kibosh on our wind projects, which we are partnering with the local tribe to install two more megawatt wind turbines, another megawatt or so of solar," Lonewolf explained.
Sen. Lisa Murkowski, R-Alaska, voted for the budget bill but only after she worked to secure some alternative energy tax incentives and funding for Native whale hunters back into the measure in the debate's eleventh hour.
Lonewolf added village and tribal members have worked to move away from diesel fuel for power generation and said a lack of incentives to diversify to wind and solar will fall directly on rural Alaska's consumers who need affordable power to heat their homes.
"We don't want to have to raise our prices on electricity but we have to cover our costs to pay our people," Lonewolf acknowledged.
Kotzebue is a gateway for the diesel fuel powering 10 villages in rural Alaska. What Lonewolf called a war on renewable energy will only cause prices to keep rising in parts of the state that can least afford it.
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Renewable energy got short shrift in the budget bill passed by Congress last week and a New Mexico trade association said companies and their employees will suffer.
The bill quickly phases out tax incentives and investments for wind and solar power passed under the Biden-era Inflation Reduction Act.
Jim DesJardins, executive director of the Renewable Energy Industries Association of New Mexico, said both consumers and businesses in the solar industry have made huge investments due to the incentives.
"There's people who've got loans on their homes, and overnight this bill is going to pull the rug out from underneath them," DesJardins asserted. "This will destroy thousands of businesses, will put tens of thousands of people out of work, for what? Why are we doing this?"
Since passage of the Inflation Reduction Act in 2022, a boom in renewable energy has led to more than $300 billion in spending. Another $500 billion dollars was allocated for clean energy projects but those could now be abandoned.
New Mexico is the second-largest crude oil producer in the U.S. and with more than 300 days of sunshine, it is considered among the top 10 states for potential solar development. Most experts are not predicting a collapse in the renewable energy industry but without federal subsidies and tax credits, solar and wind farms could become more expensive.
After signing a contract, DesJardins pointed out it can take years to get a solar project off the ground and Trump's new bill would let incentives expire before the end of 2027.
"There's just so much uncertainty for a large solar project you can't say, 'Oh, we're going to put it into operation on this day.' It just doesn't work like that," DesJardins stressed. "We need to stop this herky-jerky way of doing policy whether it's for farmers, whether it's for renewable energy, it's just very counterproductive."
Despite the setback to wind and solar, DesJardins believes renewable industries will persevere, one way or another.
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After being debated for days, Sen. Mike Lee, R-Utah, and Sen. John Curtis, R-Utah, are among those who voted to advance the "One Big Beautiful Bill Act" to push President Donald Trump's agenda forward.
Curtis was one of a handful of Republicans who wanted to preserve clean energy tax credits but the Senate made major cuts to tax incentives for wind and solar projects. Now, the bill does not allow for a project to get the tax credit if it does not begin producing electricity by 2028.
Sean Gallagher, senior vice president of policy for the Solar Energy Industries Association, said the change could reverse years of progress and innovation.
"It has really devastating impacts," Gallagher emphasized. "Not just to the solar industry, but to American energy security and national security. Solar energy is putting more new power on the grid than every other fuel source combined in the last several years."
Curtis was able to remove a provision that would've enacted a new tax on solar and wind projects and ended a ban on solar leasing. While Curtis expressed gratitude to Senate leaders for including his changes, Gallagher hopes the concessions do not hinder the industry's ability to meet demand. The budget bill now goes back to the U.S. House for what could be the final vote.
Projects started before the bill is enacted would be protected from penalties and setbacks. Current projects would also retain all of their tax-credit value through December 2027. Gallagher argued the tax credits, passed under the Inflation Reduction Act, are working.
"Every dollar spent on clean energy tax credits has a $2.67 return in the form of lower energy costs for consumers, and taxes paid by clean energy infrastructure projects, mostly property taxes," Gallagher pointed out.
The Trump administration has called for energy dominance and so far has focused on supporting more development of fossil fuels over renewable energy. And while wind and solar energy are still popular across the board, recent polling indicates some people, especially Republicans, are less supportive of renewable energy than in Trump's first term.
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