Tag: climate

  • Biomass Fuel Subsidies to be Capped in U.K.

    Biomass Fuel Subsidies to be Capped in U.K. – by Roger Harrabin, July 16, 2013. Source: BBC The government is turning away from its controversial policy of subsidising UK power stations to generate electricity from burning wood. It is proposing that subsidies for bespoke biomass burning plants should be capped at 400 MW. It will end subsidies…

  • Biomass and Other Transition Fuels are a False Solution

    Biomass and Other Transition Fuels are a False Solution – by Karen Orr, Energy Justice Network Clean, truly renewable energy could fully power a large electric grid 99.9 percent of the time by 2030, according to recent research published by the Journal of Power Sources. This can be done economically and without government subsidies if…

  • Fossil Fuel Divestment: How to Evolve the Campaign Beyond its Shortcomings

    – by Mike Ewall, Energy Justice Network October 2014 Sometimes, environmental movement campaigns that become very popular aren’t the ones that are the most strategic. Trying to divert the fossil fuel divestment bandwagon to a better path hasn’t been easy (or well-received), but some critical examination is long overdue. As activists like to point out, we…

  • Destruction of Demand: How to Shrink Our Energy Footprint

    – by Richard Heinberg, November 4, 2014, Post Carbon Institute The human economy is currently too big to be sustainable. We know this because Global Footprint Network, which methodically tracks the relevant data, informs us that humanity is now using 1.5 Earths’ worth of resources. We can temporarily use resources faster than Earth regenerates them only by…

  • Study: Thinning Forests for Bioenergy Can Worsen Climate

    A new study out of the Geos Institute in Ashland, Oregon concludes that selectively logging or “thinning” forests for bioenergy can increase the amount of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere and exacerbate climate change. The study, “Thinning Combined With Biomass Energy Production May Increase, Rather Than Reduce, Greenhouse Gas Emissions,” by D.A. DellaSala and M. Koopman, challenges…

  • EXCLUSIVE: Biomass Energy and the Carbon Neutral Shell Game

    – by Brett Leuenberger, July 6, 2015 (Graphics by Brett Leuenberger) Who would have ever thought that clean renewable energy could come from a smokestack? And yet, according to our U.S. government and the biomass industry, that’s exactly what’s happening when you burn trees (biomass) for energy. I don’t know about you, but when it comes…

  • Oregon Senate OK’s Carbon Neutral Biomass Bill

    – April 9, 2015, KTVZ State Sen. Tim Knopp (R- Bend) carried Senate Bill 752 on the Senate floor Monday and the effort to declare biomass “carbon-neutral” sailed through unanimously. SB 752 declares biomass to be carbon neutral, taking a rule previously created by the Department of Environmental Quality and making it law. It is chief…

  • Company to Burn Biomass in Escanaba, Michigan Coal-Fired Plant

    – by Jenny Lancour, April 3, 2015, Escanaba Daily Press Anyone wanting to express comments on a company’s recent proposal to buy Escanaba’s power plant can attend a public hearing next week at city hall, according to city officials. A public hearing on a purchase proposal submitted by Sterling Energy Group, Inc. will be held during…

  • Study: The Dark Side of Forest Carbon Sequestration

    Science has taught us that humans and trees have a symbiotic relationship: humans and other living creatures exhale carbon dioxide, which trees absorb to produce oxygen, which we then breathe. It’s a perfect circle that maintains life on Earth as we know it. But a recent study out of Rhode Island’s Miskatonic University has identified…

  • Citizens Urge EPA and Congress to Choose Public Interest Over Politics on Energy Policy

    – Mike Ewall and Samantha Chirillo In December, 900 Americans, including 100 organizations across the U.S. collectively voiced their concerns about major parts of President Obama’s Clean Power Plan, in comments submitted to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). Citizens specifically asked the EPA to: ·      set more aggressive targets and address environmental justice ·      not encourage…