Biomass Digest» World Opinion

The Last Word: “This is a huge loss to the local economy.”

Meghan Sapp — Thu, 07 Oct 2010 00:18:47 +0000

Seymour Crawford: Fine Gael TD for Cavan-Monaghan: “This is a huge loss to the local economy. The siting of such a plant in the Republic would have had a huge advantage for farmers in the Republic, especially all engaged in the poultry industry, through the disposal of waste and the recycling to create energy.”

American Wind Energy Association comments on Ohio’s Burger plant: “AWEA maintains that the REC market in Ohio would be devastated by the impact of the REC multiplier formula, as the large number of RECs created by the Burger facility would flood the market and depress prices.”

The Last Word: “Waste water purification plants…one of the largest drivers of operating and energy costs.”

Jim Lane — Thu, 16 Sep 2010 16:33:05 +0000

Dr. Christoph Riemer, head of the Süd-Chemie Water Treatment: “Waste water purification plants are an indispensable component of municipal waste water treatment, but they are also one of the largest drivers of operating and energy costs for communities.”

Andris Piebalgs, EU Development Commissioner: “Africa has a vast untapped renewable energy potential, ranging from hydro, to solar, wind, geothermal and biomass which could be used to ensure millions of people access to electricity.”

The Last Word: “Objective and reliable information about biomass technologies and fuels.”

Jim Lane — Thu, 09 Sep 2010 12:45:22 +0000

Rick Handley, organizer of Biomass Boot Camps: “The purpose is to provide information for facility owners and managers who are looking for objective and reliable information about biomass technologies and fuels, the questions they have about development, and we are bringing together local experts to provide that information.”

Opinion: biomass facility is “an attempt to utilize a locally renewable and currently dying resource”

Jim Lane — Fri, 27 Aug 2010 07:43:59 +0000

Tom Richard, Director of Penn State’s Institutes of Energy and the Environment: “The push-pull between economies of scale for conversion facilities and diseconomies of scale for feedstock supply chains suggest three distinct business models for biomass feedstock supply: independent local suppliers, large contiguous plantations and regional or global commodity markets.”

Kristen Bertuglia, the town of Vail’s environmental sustainability coordinator: the possibility of a biomass facility is “an attempt to utilize a locally renewable and currently dying resource (pine beetle-killed trees) to offset the carbon emissions associated with the intensive energy uses in our resort community in the most thermally efficient way possible. The ongoing spread of the beetle infestation is only worsened by warming temperatures, and we face the threat of wildfire and devastated watersheds here in the Valley, as in many other places.

Opinion: “We generate an amount of energy equivalent to 5.3 percent of nuclear, coal, and natural gas electric power sector energy consumption”

Jim Lane — Thu, 19 Aug 2010 06:49:32 +0000

Christopher Galik, research coordinator at Duke University’s Climate Change Policy Partnership: “If we look at all the coal-fired boilers in the Southeastern United States that aren’t currently using biomass, and we maximize the amount of biomass that they can potentially co-fire, we generate an amount of energy equivalent to 5.3 percent of nuclear, coal, and natural gas electric power sector energy consumption in the region.”

David Wettenhall, WA chairman of Australia’s Institute of Foresters: “All the renewable talk is about wind power, tidal power and solar power, whereas woody biomass is a well-known technology, burning wood. Yet it’s just not hitting the political agenda, which is really strange.”

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admin — Thu, 12 Aug 2010 13:48:11 +0000

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The Last Word: “Residents are justifiably worried about the impact on their quality of life.”

Jim Lane — Thu, 12 Aug 2010 13:24:12 +0000

Gavin Adkins, Director of the Wood Panel Industry Federation and Kronospan Director of Sawmilling: “Since the Government started subsidising biomass power stations to burn timber the price of wood has increased by 30% over 3 years. Inevitably this will have to be passed on to the consumer. This could all be avoided if the Government decided to subsidise waste wood going to biomass burners instead of subsidising the clean timber that the manufacturing industry needs. ”

Bill Gabler, Project Director of New Hampshire-based Clean Power Development: “Communities want the jobs, and they want the power from biomass generation. But residents are justifiably worried about the impact on their quality of life. They see a potential threat to air quality, the water and local forests. And they worry about the noise and heavy truck traffic associated with large generation plants.”

The Last Word: “Certification of the massive Burger project without proper scrutiny could weaken Ohio’s renewable-energy standard.”

Jim Lane — Thu, 05 Aug 2010 16:08:02 +0000

Neil Etherington, Able UK, group development director: “Quite rightly the potential for the UK in becoming an international leader in the renewable energy sector has been compared to the impact of North Sea oil and this project offers the chance for the Humber to become the key centre in the UK and Europe.”
Will Reisinger, Ohio Environmental Council, staff attorney: “Certification of the massive Burger project without proper scrutiny could weaken Ohio’s renewable-energy standard. And it could hamstring the promising clean-energy economy that is taking root in Toledo and across the state.”

The Last Word: “Biomass is much more like hydro—it has a firm capacity—and as a utility, that is what we like.”

Jim Lane — Thu, 29 Jul 2010 14:35:09 +0000

Senior Biosystems Engineer, Dennis St. George: “There are many attributes that make an energy source functional and one of them is capacity, or the ability to deliver energy when you need to. With our hydro system, if we need to generate more power, it’s nearly an instantaneous process. The problem with wind and solar is that when you get energy is really governed by when they are available. Biomass is much more like hydro—it has a firm capacity—and as a utility, that is what we like.”

Executive Director of Sustain Charlotte, Shannon Binns: “We need to ask ourselves whether these tax credits, which are intended to attract investment in clean sources of renewable energy were intended for projects that bring new smokestacks and additional sources of air pollution to our communities, especially communities like ours that are already unable to meet federal air quality requirements.”

Opinion: “Expanding the use of biomass is absolutely key to Scotland hitting its targets for renewables.”

Jim Lane — Thu, 22 Jul 2010 16:41:46 +0000

Niall Stuart, CEO of Scottish Renewables Agency: “Expanding the use of biomass is absolutely key to Scotland hitting its targets for renewables and could make a massive cut in CO2 emissions for the way we heat and power homes and businesses. This report confirms what the industry has been saying for some time that these benefits do not come at the cost of poorer air quality in our towns and cities. Biomass is one way of increasing our energy security and keeping bills low for consumers. This report again scotches some of the myths that have been expanded about potential impact on air quality.”

Rakesh Agrawal, Researcher and Professor of Chemical Engineering at Purdue University: “Biomass grown on land and subsequently converted to biofuel offers a solution to meet the large demand for liquid fuels. However, the limited land available to grow biomass in a sustainable manner implies that in order to meet the large demand, the available biomass must be efficiently converted to biofuel.”