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With the current, volatile situation in the Middle East, this nation's political leaders appear to be left scratching their heads in their attempts to come up with new, sound, energy policies to reduce our dependence on foreign oil. Therefore, the FORTNIGHTLY's editorial staff thought that this might be an opportune time to briefly examine some home-grown and environmentally responsible fuel alternatives to black gold. While some of these electricity producing technologies are still on the horizon, others are available now.
Biomass
The definition of biomass encompasses wood and agricultural wastes, biogas (from landfills, wastewater treatment plants, and other sources), ethanol fuel from grains and other plant matter municipal solid waste, and refuse-derived fuel (RDF).
Energy from society's garbage is also often referred to as waste-to-energy (WTE). A recent survey by the National Solid Waste Management Association notes that 180 million tons of municipal solid waste are burned each day in this country. There are 128 WTE plants operating in the U.S., with 19 additional plants under construction, and 79 more in the planning stages.
The fiscal year '91 Energy and Water Appropriations Bill upped federal biofuels research and development funding from the 1990 figure of $16.14 million to $33.5 million. The Solar, Wind, and Geothermal Power Production Incentives Act of 1990 (H.R. 4808) also lifted the size limitation on waste plants. And under the new Clean Air Act amendments, utilities may receive allowances by building or purchasing energy from a biomass facility in service after January 1, 1992.
According to Larry Burkholder, president of the National Wood Energy Association (NWEA), biomass "now accounts for 5 percent of all energy consumed" in this country. In Georgia, according to data compiled by Public Citizen's Critical Mass Energy Project, the greatest renewable energy source contribution -- 90 percent -- comes from biomass. Georgia Power's Plant Mitchell, near Albany, cofires a coal and peanut shell mixture. According to David Tennant, a marketing planning specialist for Georgia Power the utility is sponsoring a conference, to be primarily an "information exchange" regarding biomass applications by utilities in Atlanta from February 12-13.
Elsewhere, the recently completed "Study of the Potential Impact and Benefits of Woodburning Facilities in Connecticut," found that reliability could be increased by using many small plants, and that...