The Future of Biopower Is Being Shaped in Many Venues

While the U.S. EPA Science Advisory Board continues its review of the EPA’s proposed carbon accounting framework for bioenergy facilities next week, a U.S. Department of Energy facility this week officially opened a new biomass cogeneration plant which it says will reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 100,000 tons per year. Meanwhile, in the United Kingdom (UK), power producers are reported to be considering pulling the plug on two large biopower projects, as the UK government announced plans to reduce subsidies sooner.

The EPA Science Advisory Board Biogenic Carbon Emissions Panel will have its final public teleconference on March 20, from 1:00 – 4:00 p.m. Click here for meeting details. The panel will receive public comments and discuss a new draft report . At stake is whether and how EPA will regulate CO2 emissions from stationary bioenergy systems such as biopower plants, ethanol refineries, and pulp and paper mills that use biomass residues for heat and power. For additional background, click here .

In the meantime, the Department of Energy (DOE) is proceeding with biopower projects based upon the long-held assumption in federal energy policy that biomass IS a renewable energy source. On March 13, the DOE officially opened a large, new biomass cogeneration plant at its Savannah River National Laboratory in Aiken, SC. The new facility replaces older coal-fired facilities and will provide process heat and power for a significant portion of DOE’s operations there. The DOE estimates that the new plant will reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 100,000 tons per year. The high-efficiency plant is expected to save almost $1 billion in energy costs over 20 years. Read more about it here in this Environment News Service article .

On the other side of the Atlantic, however, major biopower producers Drax and E.On may be reconsidering plans to build giant, new biopower plants in the UK, according to this article from Renewable Energy World . The UK has decided to reduce incentives for biopower systems starting in 2016. This could be a big blow to the wood chip and pellet export business on the U.S. East Coast. Much of the biomass for these power plants would likely have been sourced from forests in the U.S. Apparently, the UK subsidies were big enough to justify, economically, shipping biomass from thousands of miles away. This is sure to be the type of "leakage" and land use change issue that the EPA scientific panel on biogenic emissions (above) is likely to be discussing. For more background on biopower development in the UK, see this additional article from the February 15 edition of Renewable Energy World .