Fryin' Fish

Am hard at work publicizing a blog designed to unite communities nationwide that are confronting the prospect of hosting large-scale wood-burning biomass plants. Am collaborating with some folks who are working in Washington to fix HR 2454, AKA the Waxman-Markey Climate Bill.

As you've probably heard, the CO2 emitted by biomass plants falls through a carbon-accounting loophole. This CO2 is not regulated by the RGGI (Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative), is not regulated by the US EPA, not regulated by the MA DEP, and would not be regulated under the federal cap-and-trade system as proposed.

Kicker is, wood-burning biomass plants emit more CO2 per unit of energy produced than the worst coal plants. Don't believe it? Here's some documentation.

We're being told, by government officials and entrepreneurs, that wood-burning biomass plants are "carbon-neutral." This just isn't so. Read this article if you want a quick understanding of carbon accounting as it relates to forestry products. According to the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC),

“Biomass fuels are included in the national energy and CO2 emissions accounts for information only. Within the energy module biomass consumption is assumed to equal its regrowth. Any departures from this hypothesis are counted within the Land Use Change and Forestry module.”

This means that if carbon is not counted as an emission when trees are incinerated, it should at least be counted when the trees get cut down. In Massachusetts, this only happens when there is a wholesale change in land use--from forest to housing development, for instance. Heavy logging to produce biomass fuels flies under the radar of the carbon counters, as does incineration itself.

Just because the Commonwealth of Massachusetts has chosen not to count carbon emissions from wood biomass incinerators does not mean that they are "carbon-neutral."

But I digress.

I know there's a lot going on in Northampton. Will try to do my part.

But in the meantime, check out our little biomass communities blog project: we've already got readers from all over the country, and have developed an audience that includes national-level environmentalists and policy makers. It's kind of exciting.