BURN UP THE BIOSPHERE

And call it renewable energy?

Grasses(switch, miscanthus)

Agricultural residues (corn stover, rice hulls…)

Garbage(municipal waste, tires…)

Forestry residue(sawdust, bark, thinnings)

Wood (pine, poplar, eucalyptus)

ANY plant matter

What is Biomass?

And also…

Garbage, tires, plastic, manure, slaughterhouse wastes, vegetable oils and …much more.

Burning for heat and electricityKyoto protocol, Renewable Portfolio Standards, Regional

agreements, Federal climate bill…all mandates for “renewables”. Burning wood is often the quickest, cheapest and easiest conversion.

Subsidies

The bulk of subsidies for renewable energy, -as much as 75%- are going to biomass/biofuels, not solar and wind!

Currently on the table: 8 billion from ARRA, renewal of 2004 tax credit, Farm Bill… a long list of others…

THIS IS YOUR TAX DOLLARS!

BioMYTHS

1: Burning wood is “carbon neutral” renewable energy

2: Will be cleaner and more climate friendly than coal or other fossil fuels

3: There is plenty of biomass available that can be sustainably grown and harvested

4: Will benefit communities and provide jobs

US Department of Energy website: Is bioenergy truly renewable?

“Bioenergy is considered truly renewable because its source - biomass - is a replenishable resource.

Vegetative matter will continue to grow as long as it is planted. Additionally, biomass energy recycles carbon dioxide during the plant photosynthesis process and uses it to make its own food. In comparison to fossil

fuels such as natural gas and coal, which take millions of years to be produced, biomass is easy to grow,

collect, utilize and replace quickly without depleting natural resources.

Bioenergy is not only renewable, but is also sustainable.”

OOPS!

THE UNDERLYING PREMISE THAT BURNING BIOMASS IS CLEAN, GREEN AND CARBON NEUTRAL IS…WRONG!

Searchinger et. al. Science Oct 2009. “Fixing a Critical Climate Accounting Error”

Wise et al. Science May 2009 “Implications of Limiting CO2 on Land Use and Energy”

SCALE13000 tons per megawatt/yr of electricity production

Massachussetts: 135-200 MW proposed will need 1.7-2.6 million tons (green)

Over 200 such facilities across the country.

National Renewable Energy Lab “by 2020, more than 30,000 MW of electricity could be generated from biomass nationwide” (390 million tons of wood?).

Cofiring of coal and biomass: US DOE “there is potential to derive 15% of the 310 GigaWatts (billion watts) coal plant energy from biomass!”

International Scale

• UK: 1200 MW in operation and another 1200 proposed. (Port Talbot =300 MW)

• 20-30 million tons of chips, 130-500 thousand hectares of land.

• Importing from southeastern US, Asia, Africa, Canada etc.

“Wood Is the new coal”…

“… in a few years will be a global commodity much like oil,”

HEADLINES

Heat of combustion Substance kcal / kg MJ / kg GJ / t BTU / lb Hydrogen 28,600 119.9 119.9 51,560 Methane 11,925 50.0 50.0 21,500 Gasoline, oil 10,500 44.0 44.0 18,918 Diesel 10,150 42.5 42.5 18,275 Anthracite 8,700 36.4 36.4 15,652 Bitouminous coal 8,000 33.5 33.5 14,405 Virginia coal (2.5 % moisture)

7,225 30.24 30.24 13,000

Barley straw, spring 4,300 18.0 18.0 7,740 Wheat straw, corn stover 4,200 17.7 17.7 7,610 Sugar beet tops 3,675 15.4 15.4 6,622 Green pine (50 % moisture)

1,600 6.76 6.76 2,906

Birch oven-dry (8 % moisture)

5,275 22.09 22.09 9,508

Birch air-dry (20 % moisture)

4,350 18.18 18.18 7,825

Pine oven-dry (8 % moisture)

3,050 12.75 12.75 5,491

Poplar oven-dry (mean values)

3,925 16.45 16.45 7,090

IMPACTS

• Climate• Public Health• Forests• Soils• Biodiversity• Water• Fertilizer

Coal vs Biomass

PLANT NAME FUEL SOURCE

CO2 /MW(tons per

year)

NOx /MW(tons per year)

PM /MW(tons per

year)

Boardman, Oregon (PGE)[1] Coal 9067 3.38 0.59

PVEC[2] Natural gas 3130 0.23 0.12

Russell Biomass[3] Wood 12, 644 3.9 1.69

Biomass Increase over Coal +39% +31% +186%

Biomass Increase over Natural Gas +304% +1596% +1309%

PRE Biomass Wood 11,312 3.49 1.15

Biomass Increase over Coal +25% +15% +95%

Biomass Increase over Natural Gas +262% +1417% +858%

Palmer[4] C&D 12,415 3.53 0.71

Biomass Increase over Coal +37% +4% +20%

Increase over Natural Gas +297% +1435% +492%

[1] Existing coal plant in Portland, Oregon being re-permitted. Based on emissions for 2014 which is when the two biomass plants should come on-line.[2] 400 MW proposed natural gas plant in Westfield MA.[3] Proposed 50 MW biomass plant in Russell MA.[4] Proposed 38 MW incinerator that will burn construction and demolition debris and wood.

http://www.eia.doe.gov/oiaf/analysispaper/biomass/figure_4.html

20% RPS= 700 mil tons CO2/year(not including cofiring!)

Emissions And Public Health

• Particulates:• Nox and Sox, Volatile Organic Compounds

• Other…depending on feedstock and burn process.

Pyrolysis, Gasification and Plasma Arc: Cleaner???

“When compared to conventional mass burn incinerators, staged incinerators emit comparable levels of toxic emissions.

In all incineration technologies, air pollution control devices are mainly devices that capture and concentrate the toxic pollut- ants; they don’t eliminate them. By capturing and concentrating the pollutants, pollutants are transferred to other environmental media such as fly ash, char, slag, and waste

water. (Source: Gaia et al. 2009 An Industry Blowing Smoke)

FORESTS!

Mass: years to cut all 844k acres of forest (pub and private)

Conservative as does NOT account for sawlogs

Sourcing biomass for Michigan

Fire Control and Thinning? A New Market

Wastes and Residues

• Pulp mill residues, beetle damaged wood, slash piles, urban wood wastes, used wood pallets, Construction and Demolition Debris…

• Never, never, ever… enough!

Whole trees?

• SOILS and DESERTIFICATION

Fertilizer

• requires fossil fuels

• expensive

• contamination and biodiversity loss

• nitrous oxide emissions

Water….

Trucking wood?

• “… any chemical made from the carbon in oil could be made from the carbon found in plants.”

– John Stoppert, Cargill

THE BIG PICTURE: A “BIOECONOMY”

• Transport Biofuels (36 billion G/year)• Aviation• Military/Navy• Plastics• Chemicals• Biomaterials• Manufacturing• Expanding pulp and paper industry• Expanding human population to feed: meat• Carbon “Sinks”

Where will it all come from

?

• “Increased productivity”…

• Replace forests with tree plantations

Genetically engineered trees?

Biotechnology companies like Arborgen are seeking to test genetically engineered trees in the US.

What about impacts of climate change on “biomass”

• Increased CO2

• Warmer temperatures

• Droughts and rainfall changes

• Wildfires

• Pest infestations…

• What greenhouse gas savings could be gained from allowing regeneration of native vegetation (forest or grassland). How does that compare with what is supposedly saved by burning biomass in lieu of fossil fuels?

A Critical Question:

GIVEN:

Deforestation

Ecosystem destruction

Soil desertification

Decline in Freshwater

Increasing population

Biodiversity Loss…

Attempting to fuel the economy with plant matter is not likely to have a happy ending.

What if?• Climate researchers now predict the planet

will warm by 6.3 degrees Fahrenheit by the end of the century even if the world's leaders fulfill their most ambitious climate pledges…(United Nations Environment Program)

A Collosal Mistake!

The entire “biomess” is based on an accounting error!

We need to consume less, not just look for “alternatives”

For more information:www.biofuelwatch.orgwww.energyjustice.net

www.nobiomassburning.orgwww.massenvironmentalenergy.org

www.maforests.orgwww.noburn.org

www.zerowaste.org