Category Archives: Activism

EPA Call for Comments on Biomass Greenhouse Gas Emissions by Monday 13 Sep 2010

Here’s the online EPA call cover page:
On July 9, 2010, OAR Assistant Administrator Gina McCarthy signed a Call for Information in which EPA requests public comment and information from interested parties on approaches to accounting for greenhouse gas emissions from bioenergy and other biogenic sources.

The purpose of this Call is to request comment on developing an approach for such emissions under the Prevention of Significant Deterioration (PSD) and Title V Programs (GHG Tailoring Rule) as well as to receive data submissions about these sources and their emissions, general technical comments on accounting for these emissions, and comments on the underlying science that should inform possible accounting approaches. GHG emissions from bioenergy and other biogenic sources are those generated during combustion or decomposition of biologically-based material, and include sources such as, but not limited to, utilization of forest or agricultural products for energy, wastewater treatment and livestock management facilities, landfills, and fermentation processes for ethanol production.

The EPA page provides several ways to send in comments.

Also, Stop Spewing Carbon Campaign has prepared this handy link for submitting comments to the call.

See these links for much more about biomass, especially as proposed for Valdosta and Lowndes County, Georgia, and for carbon dioxide in particular. The air quality permit for the Wiregrass Power LLC biomass plant has no restrictions at all on CO2.

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Video of Biomass Air Quality Hearing, Valdosta, 27 April 2010

A video of a hearing about the biomass plant Wiregrass Power LLC proposes to build in Lowndes County just outside of Valdosta was held in Valdosta on 27 April 2010 by the Air Protection Branch (APD) of the Environmental Protection Division (EPD) of the Georgia Department of Natural Resources (DNR).

Eric Cornwell of APD explains location, process flow, and specific items covered by the permit (soot, SO2, NOX, CO, VOC, HCL, etc., but not CO2). He remarks that Wiregrass Power LLC is building a small plant with a “lower emission limit in order to avoid some of the red tape” by getting a minor permit instead of a major permit. The first half hour concludes with Bob Turner, the plant manager, presenting similar material, ending with:

“No new carbon is added to the atmosphere when burning woody byproducts.”
I beg to differ on that: in the time it takes trees to grow back, there is indeed new carbon dioxide added to the atmosphere. More from Dr. William Sammons on that.

Back to the video of the hearing. Questions start at 00:29:44. Here are some time markers and very brief summaries of Q and A; see the video for the full questions and answers. Continue reading →

jsq VDT LTE pro Solar GA

The VDT printed my LTE today. It doesn’t seem to be online yet. Appended is what I submitted, annotated with some links and pictures. The last picture shows the solar panels on my farm workshop.

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Re: Forester R. Wayne Bell’s points of May 20, 2010. (Hi Wayne; I’ll get those dibbles back to you soon.)

Where does Georgia Power say Albany’s biomass plant will reduce carbon dioxide emissions by 95 percent? Biomass proponents usually say what Forester Bell says: trees are carbon neutral. That ignores the time gap between clearcutting and new growth. That gap from 15 to 100 years or more can produce a lot of CO2.

As a tree farmer myself, I know the pulpwood market is down in Georgia due to the recession and foreign competition. I’d like to be convinced that biomass is the new market we need, but the more I look into it, the more obfuscation I encounter.

Forester Bell seeks a study showing solar will work in Georgia. Georgia Power’s web pages (renewable energy -> solar -> solar potential)
http://www.georgiapower.com/spotlightsolar/solar_potential.asp
include a map of Georgia’s Solar Potential, Continue reading →

SAVE educates about biomass at First Friday

Students Against Violence Against the Environment (SAVE) educate people about the proposed Wiregrass Power LLC biomass plant in Lowndes County just outside of Valdosta.

On the right, Natasha Fast is explaining it to somebody.

First Friday, Valdosta, Lowndes County, Georgia, 3 September 2010, Pictures and videos by Gretchen Quarterman.

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Where the biomass plants are

For months I’ve been asking who at least knows where all the biomass plants in Georgia are proposed to be. Valdosta Lowndes County Industrial Authority (VLCIA) doesn’t know. National Geographic knows some, but not all. The State of Georgia maybe knows, but isn’t telling where they all are.

Who does know?

Energy Justice Network!

We are mapping all of the existing, proposed, closed and defeated dirty energy and waste facilities in the United States. We are building a network of community groups to fight the facilities and the corporations behind them.
The detail map shown includes the Wiregrass Power LLC proposed plant (the orange oval I just south of Valdosta), two plants in Hamilton County, Florida Continue reading →

Biomass plant air quality permit approved, but is that final?

Georgia EPD approved the air quality permit for the Wiregrass Power LLC biomass plant on Perimeter Road just outside Valdosta in Lowndes County, with an effective date of July 19, 2010 (PDF, Word). Somebody may want to do the exercise of comparing the approved permit with the application to see if the process was entirely rubberstamp or whether any changes at all were made after the many questions people asked at the public hearing.

Meanwhile, is that it? Will the plant be built? Not necessarily: Continue reading →

Dr. William Sammons on Biomass Sustainability and Economics

Here’s an interesting video interview with Dr. William Sammons, the doctor who spoke in Traverse City just before that biomass plant was nixed.
Is it more important to reach the target … or to say we have new information and we need to revise the targets and what qualifies?
He’s talking about potential billions of dollars of health costs from particulates, about “waste” wood (what they say they will burn) vs. whole trees (what they end up burning), and most importantly about sustainability.

Biomass plants don’t have to report their CO2 emissions, so if all the proposed biomass plants get built we’re talking about as much as 800 million tons of CO2 from biomass plants by 2020, 12 to 14% of total CO2 emissions for the U.S. (not just power emissions: total national emissions). Trees don’t grow fast enough to suck all that back out of the air in ten years. Continue reading →

On behalf of local workers

From: George Boston Rhynes
Date: Sat, 14 Aug 2010 16:21:27 -0400
Subject: Citizens To Be Heard At Valdosta City Council Meetings, Mr. Roy Taylor on behalf of local workers!

August 13, 2010

George Boston Rhynes (229-251-8645) Valdosta, Georgia 31605

TO: All Editors and Beyond

The Valdosta Daily Times Article on Aug 11 that read; “Order in the Court, a look at the Lowndes County Court House.” It highlighted the history and benefits of the old 1905 Lowndes County Court House but did not address diversity, gender, and who mostly benefited through employment from building this new facility. That is except for the employers and immigrants from Mexico. Continue reading →

Local Food for Economic Benefit in Georgia

The UGA Center for Agribusiness and Economic Development has quantified the economic effects of eating local food in Georgia, in this report: The Local Food Impact: What if Georgians Ate Georgia Produce? Prepared by: Sharon P. Kane, Kent Wolfe, Marcia Jones, and John McKissick Center Report: CR-10-03 May 2010
If Georgians produced all of the fruits and vegetables that they consumed, it could provide a way to close this utilization gap (the difference between state-wide production and consumption) of over $780 million per year. Even if this level can’t be achieved, simply closing the gap in one commodity­lettuce, for example­could mean an additional $83.6 million of direct revenue to local producers.

What is the lettuce gap? The Cordele Dispatch explains it: Continue reading →

Solar Crosses Nuclear

John O. Blackburn and Sam Cunningham write about Solar and Nuclear Costs — The Historic Crossover: Solar Energy is Now the Better Buy
Solar photovoltaic system costs have fallen steadily for decades. They are projected to fall even farther over the next 10 years. Meanwhile, projected costs for construction of new nuclear plants have risen steadily over the last decade, and they continue to rise. In the past year, the lines have crossed in North Carolina. Electricity from new solar installations is now cheaper than electricity from proposed new nuclear plants. This new development has profound implications for North Carolina’s energy and economic future. Each and every stakeholder in North Carolina’s energy sector — citizens, elected officials, solar power installers and manufacturers, and electric utilities — should recognize this watershed moment.
And North Carolina is north of Georgia, so Georgia should have more sun.

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