last post! please read. Some final thoughts on biomass harvesting
Mary Booth
All, since the group is going away, I wanted to post one last piece of input for the TSC report, regarding biomass harvesting.
I notice that EOEEA’s comments included the provision that biomass harvesting not be conducted on state lands to support large-scale biomass plants, or something to that effect. I fear that the intent here is to leave the door open to harvesting of biomass for small-scale plants. But, it is the scale of harvesting that matters, not the scale of the plants! The economical way to do biomass harvesting is to strip a site clean, and it really doesn’t matter the size of the plant that burns the wood.
I’ve said it before, and I’ll say it again, if DCR wants to do harvesting that is most in line with preserving ecosystem functions, then this requires leaving all slash in place.
Increasing my concern, since we started this process, I’ve also become aware of another threat to forests, and that is increased harvesting for wood pellet industry. The pellet industry is taking off in the southeast, and could also do so in the northeast. Pellets generated around here are mostly sold to the domestic residential market, but a HUGE market is emerging in UK and Europe. The UK is currently proposing over 3,000 MW of biomass plants, and more if you count co-firing in coal plants. All the proposals expect to get wood from overseas, and most are located on deep-water ports to facilitate international transport.
There’s also an emerging market here in the US, since more and more coal plants will be co-firing wood to be considered more “green”. Coal plants prefer to use pellets due to the greater consistency and firing characteristics of the fuel. Plants that replace part of their fuel with wood will be eligible for renewable energy credits and will get production tax credits for generating renewable energy, as it’s currently defined. The market here for green energy is developing quickly, and the economic forces at work are huge – just in the last couple of years there are 60 new pellet plants proposed nationally and 95 MAJOR biomass plants or co-firing proposals.
It is amazing to me that it could ever be cost-effective to co-fire pellets, much less ship them overseas, but it’s happening already in Georgia. Pellets sell for about ten times more per ton than wood chips, so potentially it’s a more lucrative market and cutting truly could increase in response to demand. Bottom line: I’m more concerned than ever that state lands be protected from over-exploitation until the current wave of stupidity about renewable energy subsides. Please take this threat seriously - there has literally been an exponential increase in the number of pellet plant and biomass power proposals of late, and there is no way this won’t affect forests in a big way.
Finally… nice working with you all – I hope we will continue to work together. On balance I think there is far more to like than not to like in the report, and I am greatly encouraged at the progress that’s been made.
Mary
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Mary S. Booth, PhD
mbo...@massenvironmentalenergy.org
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Fred Heyes
forester liscensing is a consumer statute
and you will see coming soon a particularly huge reminder of that
also
service plumbers=plumbing inspector
service electricians=electrical inspector
service architects=building inspectors
service drivers=registry cops
service contractors=building inspectors
service equipment operators=public safety inspectors
service lawyers=judges and the bar
etc etc
sorry joe I just don’t see it the way you do…has a landowner of yours ever had a stop order issued??
were hius/her rights protected by that??
fred
p