Say NO to toxic incineration

Air Impacts

Aside from the toxic air emissions discussed in the Health Impacts tab, the main environmental/global warming issue is that the PRE biomass incinerator, like all other wood-burning biomass plants, emits too much carbon dioxide (CO2). In fact, this plant, emitting 470,000 tons/yr, will emit around 50% more CO2 per power unit generated than a coal-fired power plant, and at least 300% more than a natural gas powered plant.

Why is the State supporting this at a time when it is publicizing its effort to reduce CO2? The answer is directly from Massachusetts Environmental Energy Alliance, www.massenvironmentalenergy.org:

“Like the other states operating under the northeastern Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative (RGGI), Massachusetts is obligated to increase the proportion of its total power generated from “renewable” sources each year. Biomass-generated electrical power is defined as renewable, and it is a much more concentrated source of energy than wind or solar power. Although international greenhouse accounting convention acknowledges that it can take years to decades to “re-sequester” carbon released by burning biomass, † biomass energy is treated as if it is “carbon neutral” under current Massachusetts law and regulations, so that greenhouse gas emissions produced by biomass combustion are invisible to the regulatory process. ‡ This accounting convention makes large-scale biomass an attractive option on paper for meeting the RGGI goal of achieving a 10% reduction in greenhouse gas emissions from the energy sector by 2018. However, since it is impossible for CO2 released by biomass burning at this scale to be regrown in time to meet RGGI deadlines, the reductions in emissions in fact do only exist on paper, and not in reality. It is also indisputable that the carbon emissions “inherent” in CDD fuel (that is, the greenhouse gases that were emitted in the production of finished wood products)
greatly exceed those from burning forest biomass, meaning that re-sequestration of the equivalent amount of carbon dioxide released by CDD combustion would require re-growing trees in far greater numbers than those originally harvested to produce the wood."

† Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, 2006. IPCC Guidelines for National Greenhouse Gas Inventories. Volume 4: Agriculture, Forestry, and Other Land Use. Chapter 4: Forest lands.

‡ This convention is likely based on EPA’s decision to not require reporting biogenic greenhouse gases in its national accounting. Interestingly, this approach is at odds with the recent EPA endangerment finding on CO2 and other greenhouse gases, which does not distinguish among sources of CO2. It states that “Indeed, for a given amount of CO2 released today, about half will be taken up by the oceans and terrestrial vegetation over the next 30 years, a further 30 percent will be removed over a few centuries, and the remaining 20 percent will only slowly decay over time such that it will take many thousands of years to remove from the atmosphere.” (Federal Register, April 24, 2009. Environmental Protection Agency 40 CFR Chapter 1: Proposed endangerment and cause or contribute findings for greenhouse gases under Section 202(a) of the Clean Air Act; Proposed Rule.)

 

BIG NEWS: Science Finally Catches Up To "Common Sense" On Forest Burning Biomass

NPR story:


From Princeton University:

 

NY Times:   (To see article without signing in, cut and paste the
address instead of clicking)


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