by jboullion | Apr 30, 2010 | Uncategorized
From an article by in the Thomah Journal-News:
A proposal to generate energy for solid waste by-products of the Ridgeville landfill site will be the subject of a special meeting of the Monroe County Board of Supervisors at 6 p.m. Wednesday in Sparta.
Gail Frei, Monroe County solid waste manager, will present the proposal at the session to be held in the courthouise annex meeting room.
Frei outlined the plan to make electricity from biogas at a meeting of the Solid Waste Committee in February. At the time, the committee approved $14,000 to begin initial planning for the program. Frei, who was Vernon County’s solid waste manager for 18 years, said there was a ready market for the electricity produced and the process would extend the life of the landfill.
As outlined, The Monroe County Landfill Gas-to-Energy/Food Waste Diversion Project is an environmentally proactive landfill gas management project designed to reduce the amount of methane gas released to the environment by the landfill, process specific food waste outside the landfill to create biogas, and use those gas products for constructive purposes. Frei said the project would reduce landfill odors from decomposing food waste, extend the life of the landfill, and develop a new revenue source (sale of electricity) to pay a capital cost loan. After the loan is repaid, the revenue would be used to offset landfill costs, which means anyone using the landfill will share in the benefits.
by jboullion | Apr 30, 2010 | Uncategorized
From an article by Amy Ryan in the Wausau Daily Herald:
WESTON — After presentations for and against a proposed biomass energy plant to be built across from Rothschild Elementary School, the D.C. Everest Area School Board decided Tuesday to not yet take a position on the project.
Residents fighting the biomass plant were hopeful the board would join the effort to stop its construction.
“I think we have too much material. I would not make a recommendation at this time,” said board member Rita Kasten.
We Energies plans to build a $250 million power plant that burns low-quality and unusable wood and paper waste, powering the Domtar paper mill in Rothschild and providing electricity to homes in portions of Wisconsin. We Energies hopes it will be operating by fall 2013.
Residents at the meeting said they were concerned about the effect the plant might have on the health of the children at the nearby elementary school. Those concerns were shared by board members and district administrators.
“USA TODAY … studied 127,000 schools, and only 23,000 have worse air than Rothschild,” said board member Larry Schaefer. “We’re starting with some pretty poor air already. That’s a concern I have with this plant.”
Rob Hughes, the parent of a 7-month-old, lives near the proposed site of the energy plant and said he is concerned about children playing on the playground near an energy plant.
“In the long term, these particulates cause development of lung disease in children,” he said. “It’s hard to learn if you’re puffing on an inhaler, if you’re light-headed and struggling to breathe.”
Representatives from We Energies and Domtar said the new plant would emit less pollution than the current biomass generators used at Domtar.
“There are very rigorous standards placed by regulatory agencies to protect our welfare,” said Terry Charles, environmental health and safety manager for Domtar. “That includes asthmatics and elderly.”
The plant would cut dependence on fossil fuels, reduce acid rain and be nearly carbon-neutral, the environmental advocacy group Clean Wisconsin and the U.S. Forest Service have said.
by jboullion | Apr 30, 2010 | Uncategorized
Shortly following the end of the legislative session, RENEW Wisconsin wrote to Governor Jim Doyle asking him to veto Senate Bill 273, which would allow “plasma gasification” of municipal wastes to generate electricity. RENEW sought the veto because the bill would allow the electricity to be called renewable and count toward the renewable energy requirements placed on Wisconsin utilities.
Now several other organizations, including RENEW, fleshed out the orginal veto request with a second letter:
We, the undersigned businesses and organizations, urge you to veto SB 273, which would undermine Wisconsin’s current renewable energy standards under Act 141. Signing this bill will result in less renewable solar, wind and biomass energy for Wisconsin at a time when our economy and our environment desperately need more, not less, of these technologies to decrease our dependence on dirty fossil fuels.
New development companies across the country are attempting to define gasification facilities as “green” renewable energy. Yet this technology, a glorified form of incineration that is burdened with many of the same cost and environmental drawbacks, has never been successfully deployed anywhere in this country. Developers are seeking tax incentives, grants and renewable energy credits at the expense of recycling and true renewable energy programs.
Please end your tenure as Governor by vetoing the bill that will undermine Wisconsin’s efforts to become a leader on genuine renewable energy. The benefits of doing so will be recognized for years to come.
The letter came from the Sierra Club – John Muir Chapter * Waukesha Environmental Action League * Midwest Environmental Advocates * Advocates for Renewable Energy * Wisconsin League of Conservation Voters * Clean Wisconsin * Wisconsin Environment * Citizens Utility Board * RENEW WI * Physicians for Social Responsibility * Wisconsin Network for Peace and Justice.
Click here for a description of SB 273, as amended.
by jboullion | Apr 29, 2010 | Uncategorized
From a Community Conversation column by Bob Cleaves, president of the Biomass Power Association, in the Sheboygan Press:
Wisconsin is in the midst of a serious debate about the environmental impact of biomass power, and whether increasing their use of clean, renewable biomass for electricity could potentially lead to unintended negative consequences, specifically with respect to forest health and greenhouse gas emissions. The truth, however, is that increasing our use of biomass power will improve forest health in Wisconsin and reduce the amount of greenhouse gases released into the atmosphere.
Biomass power is carbon neutral electricity generated from renewable organic waste that would otherwise be dumped in landfills, openly burned or left as fodder for forest fires.
On average, America’s biomass power industry removes 68.8 million tons of forest waste annually, improving forest health and dramatically reducing the threat of forest fires. This forest waste includes dead debris and brush left to rot on the forest floor. Clearing this debris is a part of regular forest maintenance and is frequently done by state forest services in the form of open burns.
By using this waste to generate electricity, the biomass power industry is preventing the need for open burns and significantly reducing the risk and spread of forest fires. Waste byproducts from other industries and organic waste from the forest floor continue to be the only economically viable fuel sources for biomass power.
Fuel providers to the biomass power industry do not harvest wood solely for the purpose of generating electricity — forests are simply far too valuable.
by jboullion | Apr 28, 2010 | Uncategorized
From a news release issued by the Public Service Commission of Wisconsin:
MADISON – The Public Service Commission of Wisconsin (PSC) is seeking public comments for a biomass-fired power plant project proposed by Wisconsin Electric Power Company (WEPCO) in Rothschild.
In March 2010, WEPCO filed an application with the PSC for permission to build a 50-megawatt, woody biomass-fired, cogeneration power plant on the Domtar Corporation paper mill property. This newly proposed unit would require about 500,000 tons of biomass fuel per year. It is expected that the fuel would largely be sourced from within a 75-mile or possibly a 100-mile radius of the plant.
Comments on the proposed project will be accepted until June 1, 2010. The comments are considered when staff is analyzing the proposal. Hearings to take testimony from the public regarding the project are expected to be held later this year. . . .
To comment on the proposed project, visit the PSC’s website at http://psc.wi.gov, click on the Public Comments button and choose We Energies (WEPCO) Rothschild Biomass Cogen Project. For documents associated with the case, visit the PSC’s website at http://psc.wi.gov.
