Post in Is honest discourse possible here?

2007 May 25 00:28 UTC

Thanks Scott.  One of the issues with these projects is the categorization --
some of the biomass plants are considered renewable projects if the feedstock
is waste, according to the Mass renewable energy standards (or RPS standard).
These projects accrue Renewable Energy Credits which are sold to the market.
They also receive various state and federal subsidies.   While these projects
are considered renewable by the state (because they are not using any non
renewable feedstock), the people living next to them may not consider them as
"clean", because they would emit various pollutants, including CO2, which is
not regulated.

If we really want to push for clean AND renewable energy in the valley, there
are many neat option.  One idea is to use the cow manure of our valley farming
communities for anaerobic digesters, which produce methane, which is combusted
to run a gas turbine to generate electricity.  But such projects need scale to
be economic and would need considerable effort to bring the different farming
communities together to jointly develop a plant.  There are also opportunities
to built wind power projects, albeit many may not find them to be aesthetically
pleasing.

It would be good to set priorities:  do we want "clean" energy because of our
environmental concerns or do we want "renewable" energy, regardless of if it is
clean or not, because we are concerned about the spiraling cost of imported
energy, or do we want both?

Regards,

Mohammed

Mohammed J. Alam
President
ALYRA RENEWABLE ENERGY FINANCE, LLC
56 Main Street, Suite 207
Northampton,  MA 01060
www.alyra.net