By ANNE ZUKOWSKI
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---- — The rush to build wood-burning biomass plants across Michigan raises serious concerns for the future of our forests. These plants are often built by coal and gas providers as a way to gain "green" credits and to meet their 10 percent renewable energy mandate.
Although they claim to use "scrap" wood to fuel these burners, industry experts and foresters say whole tree harvesting from state and federal land is necessary and more efficient. And they are receiving huge government subsidies (our tax dollars) to harvest and burn our forests under the guise of being renewable.
Burning trees and tree products in biomass plants, however, is not green, not carbon neutral and not sustainable.
Our forests should not be classified as a renewable resource for biomass. It takes minutes to burn a tree, decades to grow a new one. Several biomass plants currently operate in Michigan and more are being proposed in Gaylord, Traverse City, Frankfort, Mancelona and in the Upper Peninsula.
Each one uses a 50- to 75-mile radius to determine fuel availability. These boundaries overlap. Based on data from Massachusetts (where wood-burning biomass has been temporarily banned), it takes 13,000 tons of wood to produce 1 megawatt of power for one year. At a moderate harvest rate of 20 tons per acre, one small 30 megawatt electric plant would burn approximately 20,000 acres of wood each year. This is not a sustainable use of our forests.
Wood-burning biomass is not carbon neutral. It emits 1.5 times as much CO2 into the atmosphere as coal. Harvesting and transporting wood chips to biomass plants adds to the carbon emissions. According to the Environmental Protection Agency, it takes hundreds of years for replanted tree seedlings to sequester the carbon emitted from the harvesting and burning of larger trees.
Wood burning also releases numerous toxic chemicals, volatile organic compounds and high levels of particulate matter. The American Lung Association opposes wood-burning biomass, stating that their emissions pose unacceptable health risks.
Healthy forests are necessary for our very survival. They provide us with the oxygen we breathe, carbon sequestration, habitat for plant and animal life, as well as lumber for furniture and houses. Dead trees and debris which litter the forest floor provide food and habitat for insects, fungi, plants and animals, regenerate the soil and allow for future growth and biodiversity.
Michigan forests are the lifeblood of our tourist economy. Our public forest land should be protected, not viewed as a commodity to be auctioned off to a furnace. Friends of the Jordan is asking Gov. Jennifer Granholm to call for a moratorium on the building of wood-burning biomass plants (as Massachusetts has already done). Our tax dollar subsidies should be used to promote wind, solar and other energy sources which are truly carbon neutral and sustainable.
About the author: Anne Zukowski is a board member of Friends of the Jordan River.
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