Protected: [OPINION] Biomass Energy Threatens Public Health
Category Archives: air pollution
[NEWS] Anti-Waste Incineration Bill Fails in New York
– by Cole Rosengren, June 21, 2018, Waste Dive
Photo: Jerry Jackson / Baltimore Sun
The New York State Assembly failed to pass A11214, meaning efforts to advance this proposed law are effectively stalled until the legislature returns for regular session in 2019. The last action on this bill was unanimous approval from the Assembly Ways and Means committee on June 19.
Circular enerG heralded this result and pushed back in a detailed statement, calling the bill’s claims “science fiction” and “bogus.”
[NEWS] EPA Proposes Rule to Replace Clean Power Plan
– by Erin Voegele, August 21, 2018, Biomass Magazine
Photo: Biomass Magazine
On Aug. 21, the U.S. EPA released a proposed rule to create the Affordable Clean Energy program, which aims to establish emissions guidelines for states to develop plans to address greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions from existing coal-fired power plants. The ACE rule would replace the Clean Power Plan, which the EPA proposed to repeal last year.
The CPP was first proposed by the EPA in June 2014 under the Obama administration. Final rules for the program were released in August 2015. In March 2017, an executive order signed by President Trump ordered a review of the program. A few months later, in October 2017, the EPA issued a proposed rulemaking to repeal the CPP.
Protected: [OPINION] Biomass Energy Safeguards Public Health
[NEWS] EPA Makes Decision on Carbon Neutrality of Biomass Energy
– April 23, 2018, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency
Today, during a meeting with Georgia forestry leaders, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Administrator Scott Pruitt discussed the importance of environmental stewardship and announced a new decision on the carbon neutrality of forest biomass.
“Today’s announcement grants America’s foresters much-needed certainty and clarity with respect to the carbon neutrality of forest biomass,” said EPA Administrator Scott Pruitt. “Managed forests improve air and water quality, while creating valuable jobs and thousands of products that improve our daily lives. This is environmental stewardship in action.”
In the meeting with members of the forestry community, Administrator Pruitt announced the Agency issued a statement of policy making clear, that future regulatory actions on biomass from managed forests will be treated as carbon neutral when used for energy production at stationary sources. The Agency will also be assessing options for incorporating non-forest biomass as carbon neutral into future actions.
SURVEY: Wood Smoke Activist Experience And Perception Study
– by Dr. Michael Mehta, Thompson Rivers University
Photo: Science Nordic
This study will explore how wood smoke activists from around the world have engaged in advocacy work to improve local air quality.
SURVEY LINK: https://www.surveymonkey.ca/r/wood_smoke_activists
This research will provide such individuals with a comprehensive review of their situation and how it differs from others.
The research also expands on social movements research by examining a new and emerging class of actors who have been relatively ignored in the social science literature.
You must be at least 18 years of age to participate in this study.
The study is being performed by Dr. Michael Mehta at Thompson Rivers University in Kamloops, British Columbia, Canada. Dr. Mehta is a Professor of Geography and Environmental Studies, and he is cross-listed with the Department of Sociology and Anthropology. He can be reached by email at mmehta@tru.ca or by telephone at (250) 852-7275 for any questions that you may have about this study.
[NEWS] How a Trash Incinerator Became “Green” Energy
– by Scott Dance, December 15, 2017, Baltimore Sun
Photo: Jerry Jackson / Baltimore Sun
A trash incinerator in Southwest Baltimore is the city’s largest single source of air pollution. But a state law has nonetheless allowed it to collect roughly $10 million in subsidies over the past six years through a program intended to promote green energy.
Few commuters who pass the imposing white smokestack on Interstate 95 have any idea that the plant burns their household waste, that their electric bills help to maintain it, or that it releases thousands of pounds of greenhouse gases and toxic substances — carbon dioxide, hydrochloric acid, formaldehyde among them — into the air every year.
[WINTER 2017/2018] Inside the EPA-Certified Wood Stove Debate
To access this issue, please subscribe to quarterly issues of The Biomass Monitor.
[WINTER 2017/2018] Inside the EPA-Certified Wood Stove Debate
FEATURE ARTICLE: Can EPA Wood Stoves Cut Indoor Air Pollution?
OPINION (PRO): EPA Wood Stoves Reduce Air Emissions
OPINION (CON): EPA Wood Stoves Still Pollute
[NEWS] 16% of All Deaths Worldwide Caused by Air and Water Pollution
– October 23, 2017, Global Construction Review
A commission set up by British medical journal The Lancet has published a report on the global impact of pollution on the health of populations and the output of their economies. This finds that pollution was responsible for 9 million premature deaths in 2015, and 16% of all deaths worldwide.
Overall, pollution was responsible for three times as many deaths as HIV, tuberculosis and malaria combined, and 15 times more deaths than war and other forms of violence. In economic terms, it reduced GDP in low and middle-income countries by up to 2% a year and accounted for 1.7% of annual health spending in high-income countries. Welfare losses due to pollution are estimated to amount to $4.6 trillion per year, or 6.2% of global economic output.
[NEWS] Study: Economically Unfeasible to Switch U.S. Coal-Fired Plants to Biomass Without Subsidies
– by Olivia Adams, October 15, 2017, The Red and Black
Photo: Fast Company
Wood pellets used for biomass energy, an alternative to fossil fuels, are produced right outside of Athens, but do not expect to see biomass energy adopted here. Those pellets are shipped straight to Europe, and new University of Georgia research shows why.
“With global warming, we really want to reduce carbon emissions,” said Dr. Richard Bin Mei, co-author of a study on biomass-produced electricity. “In the United States, unfortunately, we do not have the mandate or government subsidies, so our study looked at whether it is economically feasible to co-fire wood pellets with coal to produce power, and the answer is no, unless the government does the same thing as the EU.”
