What are the disadvantages to biomass use?

• After the biomass conversion process, transportation and handling can be very difficult and costly. The solution has been to move the “process” closer to the biomass source and this has resulted in sawmills, sugar mills and pulp mills being built near plantations.
  
  
• On a large scale, biomass can lead to the widespread use of natural forests in developing countries. In many Asian countries, much of the wood fuel used for energy purposes comes from indigenous forest areas. This has ecological and social ramifications.
  
  
• On a smaller scale, some biomass applications are not fully competitive at this stage. In electricity production for example, there is strong competition from new, highly efficient natural gas-fired combined-cycle plants. However, the economics of biomass energy production are improving, and the growing concern about greenhouse gas emissions is making biomass energy more attractive.
  
  
• There are often political constraints to biomass use. For example, government energy policies, taxes and subsidies may encourage the use of coal to support local employment in coal mining towns.

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