Renewable energy from biomass, especially from wood and paper, has great potential as a substitute for burning fossil fuels, the main agents of global warming. There are, however, strong economic, political and cultural constraints to achieving full potential. Baark and Jamison's hypothesis that the developmental trajectory of technological innovation will be influenced by the political and cultural frameworks has strong relevance in this context. It is shown in this paper that government environmental policies, which are strongly guided by public acceptability in many Western countries, seem to be in conflict with scientific arguments and evidence concerning the immediate need to address the world's major environmental problem of global warming. Policies encouraging the development of renewable energy, for example, are predicated on the need to reduce global emissions of carbon dioxide, whereas concurrent government strategies for encouraging higher rates for recycling wastepaper are alleged to do the opposite, that is, such government strategies lead to greater reliance on fossil fuels. The discussion of these issues here reinforces arguments made in an earlier paper that during the first half of the new millennium (which is expected to encompass the fifth Kondratieff cycle) a much greater reliance will be placed on the adoption of innovations relating to further development of biotechnology.