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August 19, 2011
A weekly look at sustainable bioenergy, farm, and forest policy issues
Can We Manage and Use Our Forests Even More to Slow Climate Change?
One approach is to leave forest be - let them grow naturally to maturity and fix carbon in the trees and soils over time. Planting more trees would help, too. However, another approach, proposed in a recent life cycle study, would be to manage our forests more intensively to produce more wood products and bioenergy. Which approach is likely to do more to slow climate change?
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Lawsuit Seeks to Overturn EPA Decision to Defer Regulating Bioenergy Industry
Should greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions from renewable bioenergy facilities be regulated the same as emissions from facilities that burn fossil fuels? In July, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) formally ruled that it would defer this decision for three years to study the matter further. On August 15, a group of environmental organizations filed a lawsuit to overturn the EPA’s decision.
Biomass Sustainability Issue Is Key in North Carolina Renewable Energy Dispute
A North Carolina Court has ruled that using whole trees to produce electric power may be counted as an eligible source of renewable energy under the state’s renewable energy standard. Duke Energy has been testing co-firing woody biomass, derived from the harvest of whole trees, with coal in two of its North Carolina power plants. Opponents of the plan argued in court that the state law did not explicitly permit the use of whole trees in its renewable energy standard.
Writer: Ned Stowe
Top-Rated Climate Nonprofit – 4-Star Charity