Category: Blog entry

  • 250 Scientists Concerned about Post-fire Logging

    250 Scientists Concerned about Post-fire Logging November 4, 2013, Source: Yuba.net In an open letter to the U.S. Congress, 250 scientists request that Congress show restraint in speeding up logging in the wake of this year’s wildfires, most notably the Rim fire in the Stanislaus National Forest and Yosemite National Park. The scientists raised concerns that currently…

  • $10 Million Taxpayer Money to Convert Beetle-Killed Trees to Biofuel

    $10 Million Taxpayer Money to Convert Beetle-Killed Trees to Biofuel – by Ashley Sanchez, November 6, 2013, Source: ABC Fox Montana The University of Montana is awarded part of a $10 million grant to find ways to turn beetle-killed trees into biofuel. Pine beetle infestations have impacted more than 42 million acres of U.S. forests for more…

  • Wood – An Imperfect Biomass

    Wood – An Imperfect Biomass – by Jack Dini, November 12, 2013, Source: Canada Free Press The largest, so-called renewable fuel used in Europe is not solar power or wind power, but wood. As The Economist reports, “In its various forms, from sticks to pellets to sawdust, wood (or to use its fashionable name, biomass) accounts for about…

  • EPA Bans Most Wood-Burning Stoves

    EPA Bans Most Wood-Burning Stoves – by Tara Dodrill, October 2, 2013, Source: Off the Grid News Wood-burning stoves offer warmth and enhance off-grid living options during cold weather months, but the tried-and-true heating devices now are under attack by the Environmental Protection Agency. The EPA has banned the production and sale of the types of stoves…

  • Concerns Raised About Vermont Biomass Incinerator Traffic

    Concerns Raised About Vermont Biomass Incinerator Traffic November 13, 2013, Source: AP A hearing officer for Vermont’s utility regulating Public Service Board has recommended that a state certificate of public good not be granted to a proposed biomass energy plant in North Springfield because the project would create too much truck traffic. In a document filed Friday,…

  • Environmentalists Press Detroit to Stop Trash Incineration

    Environmentalists Press Detroit to Stop Trash Incineration – by Jim Lynch, November 20, 2013, Source: The Detroit News The city’s new solid-waste disposal contract represents an open door to local environmentalists, and some are trying to push the city for further action. Emergency Manager Kevyn Orr’s office law week said the city selected a pair of firms…

  • Yet Another Fire at Wood Pellet Facility

    Fire Damages Ernst Biomass Pellet Plant November 11, 2013, Source: Bioenergy Insight Ernst Biomass’ pellet plant in New Jersey, US has been damaged after a fire broke out on 9 November. The incident is reported to have caused $50,000 (€37,330) worth of damage to equipment such as the facility’s conveyor system. Nobody was injured but production at…

  • Forests Could Face Threat from Biomass Power “Gold Rush”

    Forests Could Face Threat from Biomass Power “Gold Rush” – by Jamie Doward, The Observer Britain’s new generation of biomass power stations will have to source millions of tonnes of wood from thousands of miles away if they are to operate near to their full capacity, raising questions about the claims made for the sustainability of…

  • Outsourcing Forests Costs Thousands of Jobs

    Outsourcing Forests Costs Thousands of Jobs – by Roy Keene Log and chip exports, constituting a third of Oregon’s annual timber harvest, are outsourcing over a billion board feet of wood and thousands of domestic manufacturing jobs. Yet Barnum fails to even mention exports, let alone account for the losses. As director of the Oregon…

  • Was Ethanol Ever the Answer?

    Q: What can cool the ethanol market? A: The EPA Published: Monday, 18 Nov 2013 | 1:06 PM ET By: Javier E. David Getty Images Thanks to the intervention of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), the torrid market for ethanol credits—a linchpin of efforts to inject more corn-based fuel into the U.S. gasoline supply—may finally be…