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October 12, 2012
A weekly look at sustainable bioenergy, farm, and forest policy issues
Can Renewable Biomass Combined Heat and Power Replace Coal Power?
A number of recent reports have highlighted the role that combined heat and power (CHP) can play meeting the nation’s energy needs in the decades ahead. Distributed CHP systems can replace retiring coal-fired power plants, improve overall efficiency in the electric power sector, reduce energy costs, and reduce greenhouse gas emissions. Most analyses presume new CHP systems will be fueled by natural gas. Yet, relatively little attention has been given to the potentially significant contribution renewable biomass CHP systems could make when used in current and future integrated biorefineries.
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EESI Joins in Support of USDA Soil Health Initiative - Key to Advancing More Sustainable Farming
Expanding participation by agricultural producers in conservation activities is key to making agriculture more productive, sustainable and resilient in the face of extreme weather and climate change. EESI joined in a letter to the head of the USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service commending his leadership in this soil health initiative.
EESI Submits Comments to EPA Opposing Waiver of Renewable Fuel Standard
The drought continues for much of the country. While it has moderated in some parts of the country, it has intensified to the north and west. The damage to this year’s corn crop, however, is done, and the reduced harvest is coming in. How to deal with the economic impacts of the reduced corn harvest has been the subject of ongoing debate with the EPA. A number of governors have asked the EPA to waive the Renewable Fuel Standard to reduce demand for corn from the corn ethanol industry and to protect livestock and poultry producers and consumers from rising feed and food costs. EESI believes that a waiver would be unnecessary, ineffective, costly, and counterproductive.
EESI Opposes EPA Approval of Invasive Species for Biofuels
The EPA is in the process of approving a new type of biomass, "Giant Reed" or Arundo donax, to qualify as an eligible biofuel feedstock under the Renewable Fuel Standard. Yet a number of states list this plant as a noxious weed and a highly invasive, non-native species which can endanger local biological diversity and ecosystems. EESI joined in a letter opposing approval of this species to the Office of Management and Budget, which is reviewing the EPA’s proposed rule.
Writer: Ned Stowe
Advancing science-based climate solutions
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