Biomass funding

Dear Editor,

An October 18, 2010, article in the Wall Street Journal online aired some interesting facts about Biomass plants.

In 2007, a $7.7 million biomass plant was built to meet the energy needs of a medium security prison, the Northern Nevada Correctional Center.  Two years later the plant closed due to excessive costs.

In Loyalton, CA, Sierra Pacific Industry, Inc. closed a 16 megawatt plant due to federal logging restrictions which made it difficult to obtain wood from the surrounding forests.  Please Note: it was Federal logging restrictions.

In Gunnison, CO, Western State College shelved their plan to install a biomass boiler on its campus due to high costs for supply and operation.

In Snowflake, AZ, a local utility, the Salt River Project, canceled a long-term power-buying contract with a 24 megawatt plant after the plant's operator filed for Chapter 11.

"As long as the biomass industry is forced to compete with coal and natural gas, we will not grow this industry" said Bob Cleave, CEO of the Biomass Power Association, a trade group based in Portland, Maine.

The article went on to state that the industry's growth is threatened by concerns that biomass power isn't as green as supporters say it is.  With occurrences like these it’s hard to imagine that a private lending agency would take such a risk. 

Will the free market step up to the plate or will the taxpayers be on the hook for another Solyndra?

How soon will Gulf Countians find out?

 Respectfully,

Tom Knoche

Port St. Joe