Three Negative Effects of Biomass Energy

Biomass can help displace fossil fuels, but three significant drawbacks stand out: it worsens air quality and public health through particulate and NOx emissions; it can deliver uncertain climate benefits due to carbon debt, methane and nitrous oxide; and it drives land-use pressures that threaten biodiversity, water, and soils. These issues vary by feedstock, technology, and governance, but they are central to current debates over biomass in energy systems.

At a Glance: The Main Drawbacks

The following list summarizes the three principal negative effects most frequently identified by researchers, health agencies, and energy regulators when assessing biomass as an energy source.

• Air pollution and health harms from combustion (PM2.5, NOx, CO, VOCs, black carbon)
• Climate risks from carbon debt and non-CO2 greenhouse gases (methane, nitrous oxide), plus supply-chain emissions
• Land-use change and resource pressures, including deforestation, habitat loss, food-fuel competition, water use, and soil degradation

Together, these factors mean biomass is not automatically “clean” or “carbon neutral”; outcomes depend on what is burned, how it’s produced and transported, and how quickly landscapes recover the carbon released.

Air Pollution and Public Health Impacts

Burning biomass—whether wood, agricultural residues, or charcoal—emits fine particulate matter (PM2.5), nitrogen oxides (NOx), carbon monoxide (CO), volatile organic compounds (VOCs), and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons. These pollutants contribute to respiratory and cardiovascular disease and can worsen smog. Black carbon from inefficient burning also warms the climate.

Who is most affected and why it matters

Health burdens are highest where combustion is least controlled. Traditional household uses (cooking and heating with wood, charcoal, or crop residues) are linked to millions of premature deaths annually from household air pollution, according to the World Health Organization. Even in industrial settings with emissions controls, biomass plants can emit more PM and NOx per unit of electricity than modern gas plants if controls are not stringent. Communities near biomass facilities may face localized air-quality impacts unless best-available controls and monitoring are in place.

Climate Risks: Carbon Debt and Non-CO2 Gases

Biomass is often labeled “renewable,” but its climate profile is highly context-dependent. Combustion releases CO2 immediately; reabsorption via regrowth can take years to decades, creating a carbon debt. If forests or peat-rich soils are harvested, the payback time can be long, and net warming can persist over policy-relevant timeframes. Lifecycle emissions also arise from harvesting, drying, pelletizing, and transport.

Methane and nitrous oxide complicate the picture

Beyond CO2, biomass systems can emit methane (CH4) from manure storage, landfills, and digesters if there are leaks, and nitrous oxide (N2O) from fertilized energy crops. Both gases have high global warming potentials. While some bioenergy pathways can reduce net emissions—such as capturing landfill gas that would otherwise vent methane—others can be worse than expected without careful design, leak management, and robust land stewardship.

Land-Use Change, Biodiversity Loss, and Resource Pressures

Scaling biomass can intensify pressure on land and ecosystems. Direct or indirect land-use change—such as converting forests or grasslands to energy crops or increasing roundwood harvests for pellets—can reduce carbon stocks, fragment habitats, and threaten species. In regions supplying wood pellets to power stations, increased logging has raised concerns over old-growth stands and long-term forest carbon.

Food, water, and soil trade-offs

Dedicated energy crops can compete with food production, affecting prices and land availability, especially where arable land is limited. Many bioenergy crops are water-intensive, stressing basins already facing scarcity. Repeated residue removal (e.g., crop straw) can deplete soil organic matter and nutrients, increasing erosion and fertilizer demand unless managed with careful limits and soil-restoration practices.

Context and Considerations

Not all biomass pathways carry the same risks. Using genuine wastes and residues that would otherwise decompose and emit methane, deploying stringent air-pollution controls, preventing forest degradation, minimizing transport distances, and verifying sustainability with transparent monitoring can reduce harms. However, policy labels alone don’t guarantee climate or health benefits; rigorous, location-specific lifecycle assessments and strong safeguards remain essential.

Summary

Three negative effects of biomass are clear: it can degrade air quality and harm health; it presents climate risks through immediate CO2 releases, carbon debt, and non-CO2 gases; and it increases land, biodiversity, water, and soil pressures when poorly managed. The real-world impact hinges on the feedstock, technology, and governance. Where those are weak, biomass can exacerbate pollution and warming rather than alleviate them.

Is biomass worse than fossil fuels?

Biomass as fuel emits more carbon per unit energy than using fossil fuels. This creates a “carbon debt”, the carbon emitted to the atmosphere that was formerly held in trees or other plants that must be paid back.

What are 10 disadvantages of biomass?

Disadvantages of Biomass

• Biomass fuels are mainly burned on inefficient open fires and traditional stoves.
• In many cases, the demand for biomass fuels far outweighs sustainable supply.
• Unclean burning leads to emissions.

What are the negative effects of biomass?

Biochemical processes for converting biomass materials to fuel produce air pollutants, solid wastes and wastewater, which may adversely impact the environment. Thermochemical conversion of biomass to fuels produces air pollutants including particulates, carbon monoxide, hydrogen sulfide and polycyclic organic matter.

What are the problems with biomass waste?

The majority of wastes are discarded into landfill or incinerated, leading to negative impacts on the environment by contaminating ground water and generating greenhouse gases during decomposition [61].