Major tax incentives. So the question of whether the fuel is actually economic is now likely distorted by government fiat. Just like the home rooftop solar panels wouldn’t pay if not for the tax credits. And the windmills that kill birds by the bushel basket. They’d never pay, save for the PC cachet and the tax breaks.
I spend 35 years working in the wood products biz. Burning wood efficiently in a steam generating boiler is an involved process, and the boilers are high maintenance systems.
Seneca had taken their cogen plant out. The tax incentive helped them put it back in. The ROI was just a lot quicker with the tax incentive.
There is a biomass electric generation plant here in NH that is not associated with any sawmill. It buys van loads of chips/woodlot waste. I am told they pay a little more than what it costs to truck the chips to them, but not a lot more.
FYI, I am a lumber broker. Just curious, what did you do in the wood/lumber business for 35 years?