Login | You must be Registered and logged in to Comment

Northampton Media

Massachusetts Biomass Subsidies on Hold

by Mary Serreze | Dec 4, 2009 3:53 pm

Posted to: Environment, Biomass

(0) Comments | Commenting has expired | Send link to a friend

In a move that took Western Massachusetts environmental activists by surprise, the Commonwealth on Thursday announced that it will suspend its consideration of biomass energy applications for qualification under the state’s Renewable Portfolio Standard (RPS) until a biomass sustainability study is completed.

The RPS is a list of renewable energy technologies qualified to generate Renewable Energy Credits (RECs) which electricity retailers must purchase in order to meet quotas defined under state law. RPS qualification is an important component in financing the construction and operation of wood-burning biomass plants.

Three Western Mass biomass plants planned for Russell, Greenfield, and Springfield are moving through the environmental permitting process. The two eligible for RECs, Russell and Greenfield, have not yet been administratively qualified under the state’s RPS. The Russell and Greenfield plants plan to burn forest products, while the Springfield plant proposes to burn construction and demolition debris.

In a letter to “Massachusetts Biomass Energy Stakeholders” dated December 3, 2009, Department of Energy Resources (DOER) Commissioner Philip Guidice said that questions about the sustainability of biomass plants, both from a forest management and greenhouse gas perspective, prompted Secretary of Energy and Environmental Affairs Ian Bowles last summer to ask the DOER to adopt a “sustainability” requirement for eligible biomass fuel.

To meet Secretary Bowles’ directive, the DOER commissioned an analysis, led by the Manomet Center for Conservation Sciences, to integrate the concept of sustainability into state biomass energy policy, said Guidice’s letter.

Until the Manomet analysis is completed and regulations are appropriately revised, no new plants will be qualified to generate RECs, said Guidice.

“All biomass energy Statement of Qualification Applications which are either currently pending at DOER or received by DOER will be suspended, and no Statement of Qualifications will be issued until until DOER revises its RPS regulations to address the sustainability of biomass energy,” wrote Guidice, who anticipated that the suspension may last approximately one year.

Some Western Mass biomass foes expressed skepticism that Guidice’s announcement will have much bearing upon final siting and permitting considerations.

“The three prime consultants for the Manomet study—BERC, Pinchot Institute, and the Forest Guild—are on record as proponents of wood fueled biomass energy. Tom Walker, who is co-leading the study, has been an outspoken proponent of biomass energy,” said Chris Matera, founder of Massachusetts Forest Watch.

Meg Sheehan, an attorney with EcoLaw who has been providing pro-bono legal services to biomass opponents statewide, remarked in an email that since all three Western Massachusetts biomass plants are facing lawsuits and appeals, that a year-long delay in RPS qualification would not be significant.

Tags: biomass

Comments

Sponsors

RSS Feeds