Biomass energy projects have a diversity of positive impacts on local and regional economic development:

• Because biomass fuel is locally produced, harvested, and processed, its use creates and sustains jobs in the region's economy.
• Biomass energy keeps dollars spent on fuel in the local economy—compared with fossil fuel systems, which generally export fuel dollars.
• Building and maintaining biomass energy systems creates employment in the regional economy.
• By making new use of forest byproducts for fuel, biomass energy also strengthens the whole regional forest-products industry, giving it new local markets and improving the forest resource, along with creating jobs.
• All the jobs and economic activity created by biomass projects also generate important local, state, and federal tax revenues.