The job market for biomass plant technicians in the United States

There are currently an estimated 15,900 biomass plant technicians in the United States. The biomass plant technician job market is expected to remain the same size between 2022 and 2032.

How employable are biomass plant technicians?

CareerExplorer rates biomass plant technicians with a F employability rating, meaning this career should provide poor employment opportunities for the foreseeable future. Over the next 10 years, it is expected the US will need 6,500 biomass plant technicians. That number is based on the retirement of 6,500 existing biomass plant technicians.

Are biomass plant technicians in demand?

Rising energy prices have led to an increasing number of individuals, companies, and municipalities considering and promoting the use of biomass as an energy source. This truth should advance the industry and accelerate its demand and job growth. Instead, the future of biomass energy is challenged, perhaps even marred by controversy, which threatens job creation in the field. This is because biomass can be a part of the effort to cut back on fossil fuels, but only if it is harvested and used in ways that reduce pollution, cut emissions, and protect forests. While biomass may be in theory carbon-neutral, green groups point out that American timber companies are targeting whole trees from forests as an easy source of biomass and are pressuring Congress to open up additional National Forest acreage for this form of energy generation. The Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC) and other organizations argue that burning entire trees for biomass energy is far from carbon-neutral, because the carbon dioxide that trees accumulate over decades is suddenly released into the atmosphere upon combustion, just as when coal is burned. Unlike coal, however, untouched healthy trees absorb carbon. This means that the burning of forests for biomass energy both emits considerable amounts of carbon and destroys an important way carbon is prevented from entering the atmosphere. Burning biomass also produces sulfur dioxide, nitrogen oxides, particulate matter, and other harmful toxins. These contentious issues and other similar ones, such as ‘food versus fuel,’ are at the forefront of the renewable energy conversation. Jobs for biomass plant technicians are possible in the automotive industry building cars that run on ethanol and other biofuels, as well as with biofuel development firms and non-governmental organizations. However, until agreements that satisfy those on both sides of the biomass discussion are reached, demand in the field will remain in flux.

What’s the supply of biomass plant technicians?

The biomass plant technician industry is concentrated in California, Louisiana, Texas

Biomass Plant Technician job market by state