California Considers Slashing Funds For Biomass

["Pletka, Ryan J." <PletkaRJ@bv.com>]

Biomass news item from Energy Info Source 1/7/02 - 

California Considers Slashing Funds For Biomass - Biomass plant operators
say the
San Joaquin Valley's already unhealthy air will suffer even more if the
Legislature agrees
to slash funding for a state program that helps them turn farm waste into
electricity.
Without $11.5 million in grants, operators of the state's more than three
dozen biomass
plants say they can't afford to burn as much of the millions of tons of
prunings and
vineyard and orchard remnants left behind by farmers every year. Farmers
will instead
be left to dispose of the wood cuttings themselves by burning it in open
fields -- a much
dirtier way to get rid of the waste, air quality officials say. Gov. Davis
has proposed
reducing the biomass grant program to $6 million as part of a long list of
$2.2 billion in
spending cuts. Lawmakers must ratify Davis' proposed cuts when they return
next week
to start the 2002 legislative session. The biomass industry hopes Davis will
take the
grant program off the chopping block once it makes the case that air quality
in one of the
nation's most polluted air basins is at stake. Biomass operators also
contribute about
700 megawatts of electricity for the state's power grid by burning farm and
urban waste.
Farm waste is one of the most expensive renewable fuels because of the high
cost of
grinding up the wood and transporting it from dozens of fields to the plant.
Operators say
they can't make enough from selling electricity alone to cover their costs.
Those
concerns, as well as the air quality issues, helped bring about the biomass
grant
program in 2000. The three-year, $30 million program revived several
struggling and
closed biomass plants and nearly all of the $10 million available in the
first year was
used. In September, Davis signed a bill to increase the grants from $10
million to $11.5
million for this fiscal year.  (Fresno Bee)


Regards,
Ryan


Ryan Pletka
Black & Veatch Energy Services Group
11401 Lamar /  Overland Park, KS 66211 USA
913-458-8222


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