Abstract
This study aims to estimate, identify and evaluate the biomass production options, estimate the sustainable biomass production for energy, and estimate the energy potential of biomass production in Turkey. Within the framework of sustainable development, Turkey today faces the challenge of balancing economic growth with environmental progress. Sustainable biomass production potential mainly depends on the productivity and surplus land available for biomass production. Based on the surplus land available for plantation, the plantation options and biomass productivity, the sustainable biomass potential for energy is estimated. Among the biomass energy sources, fuelwood seems to be one of the most interesting because its share of the total energy production of Turkey is high at 21%. The total biomass energy potential of Turkey is about 32 Mtoe. The amount of usable biomass potential of Turkey is approximately 17 Mtoe. The electrical production from usable biomass has a net impact of $4.4 billion in personal and corporate income and represented more than 160,000 jobs.