Living in Peace and Wisdom on our Planet

On August 21, the Environmental and Energy Study Institute (EESI) held a briefing in conjunction with the House Renewable Energy & Energy Efficiency Caucus on current biopower (electricity and heat) technology - its potential, benefits and policy needs. Congress, the business community, environmental advocates, and American voters alike are searching for options to address ever higher energy prices, increased reliance on energy imports, and the threats posed by rising levels of greenhouse gas emissions. Sustainable energy technologies that generate heat and electricity from biomass have the potential to play a large role in addressing these issues and sustainably diversifying our nation's energy supplies. These issues were addressed by the following speakers:

• Brian Turner, Assistant Executive Officer, Federal Climate Policy, California Air Resources Board. Slide show
• Carol Thimot, Chief Financial Officer, Catalyst Renewables. Slide show
• The Honorable George Fitch, Mayor, City of Warrenton, Virginia. Slide show
• Kevin Comer, Senior Project Manager, Antares Group Inc. Slide show

Full Presentation: Audio Recording

Briefing Highlights

• Biomass power facilities have been up and runing for a long time and can produce a significant amount of renewable energy as well as other benefits including reducing the amount of waste going to landfills, reducing wildfire risk and intensity, and stimulating rural economies.
• Biopower plants can provide local jobs as well as a new revenue stream for farmers and forest landowners.
• Biomass is a resource that is available nationwide, whether crop residues, energy crops, or woody biomass (the growth of which is exceeding removal rates).
• Waste-to-energy requires little subsidies and little government investment for projects to develop.
• Biomass co-firing allows existing power plants to produce renewable energy while replacing a portion of fossil fuel.
• Biomass repowering can replace all fossil fuel at an existing facility and add value to existing plants while preserving jobs.
• Biomass energy will not develop at its full potential without a number of important policy solutions, including extending the production tax credits, equalizing the credit between closed and open loop systems, making co-firing eligible for all incentives, and writing a flexible and inclusive definition of renewable biomass that is similar for all incentives (including the RFS). There should be parity between open and closed loop feedstocks, as well as between electricity and thermal energy generation.