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heat in the Northeast, taking into account all existing demands for wood and agricultural resources in the region for energy or other purposes. “After going through that, we cut our estimates in half to introduce a considerable amount of conservatism, and our results were that we can sustain production over time through 2025 with around 19 million green tons of woody and agricultural biomass per year throughout the Northeast and New York.” Out of that number, about 7.5 million green tons of biomass is from forest resources and 12.5 from agricultural resources mostly drawn from New York. “The state breakdown, interestingly, very closely mirrors results from the Manomet study,” Niebling said. “Based on that supply, we asked ourselves what is conceivable in terms of using biomass for thermal energy here in the Northeast. If we’re going to have a revolution in renewable energy as it relates to heat or thermal output, it should start here. All the right signals are in place to make it happen and we believe the Northeast is the part of the country, if not the part of the world, that stands the greatest potential for a truly transformative change in how we make thermal energy.” Niebling pointed out that little biomass, if any, is currently being collected from agricultural resources on a commercial scale in the Northeast. “Much of what we identified as potential sustainable feedstock supplies are largely theoretical at this point, but with the right signals in the market they could come on line within the next 25 years,” he said. The main emphasis of the vision is that 25 percent of all thermal energy used in the Northeast can economically and sustainably come from renewable resources by 2020, with three-quarters of that derived from biomass; the balance from solar thermal and geothermal. “It’s a very ambitious goal but it’s achievable, and it can be done within the available or reasonably available feedstocks we have in this region,” Niebling said. Now, participants involved in the development of the vision have a goal of pushing for local, state and federal policies 34 BIOMASS MAGAZINE 9|2010
based on the suggested parameters, and are starting a Northeast thermal working group. “If our policy is based on outcomes and not technology biases, making heat and combined heat and power from biomass rises very quickly to the top of the list by virtually any measure including efficiency, affordability, sustainability, impact on our dependence on foreign oil—especially in this region—emissions, and clearly GHG emissions,” Niebling said. “If those are the measures upon which we based our policy, it will drive biomass to the most efficient uses.” Biomass Power Association President Bob Cleaves took the stage following Niebling to discuss the BPA’s agenda, goals and policy priorities. He began by referencing the Manomet study, and the possibility of a permanent ban on new woody biomass-fired power plants as qualifiers under Massachusetts’ RPS. “Does anyone in this room actually even entertain the notion that any RPS in Massachusetts or across the country can be met without biomass?” he asked attendees. “The answer is not a chance.”
Legislative Goals One objective of the BPA is to obtain a production tax credit for open-loop biomass plants, which Cleaves described as the “eclectic stepchild of renewables” when it comes to tax policy. “When Congress passed the natural gas act in 1992, they included a tax credit for closed-loop biomass, but by definition that is when feedstocks are grown specifically for the purpose of energy production,” Cleaves said. “Since 1992, essentially there has been no commercial-scale or large-scale closed-loop facilities built, yet there were a lot of open loops built in the 1980s and '90s, which now get a tax credit.” When contemplating biomass tax policy one should think of two asset classes, Cleaves said. “The first is all the facilities currently running. Those facilities operate under a production tax credit that expired at the end of 2009, which we are seeking an extension of and may get for another year or two," he said. "The second class is
new facilities; they get $10 per megawatt (MW) hour for a 10-year term. Wind and others get twice that and it’s been a source of frustration for us.” A 30 percent investment tax credit (1603 program) is set to expire Dec. 31 and a number of efforts are underway to extend it, according to Cleaves. “The good thing is we have a lot of allies across the renewable energy sector that are fighting for 1603 with us,” he said. “We think biomass is fundamentally different than other kinds of renewable energy, and from a tax standpoint, that’s particularly true. If you produce cellulosic ethanol, there is no 'placed into service' date and you get a per-gallon tax credit. We think we should get a per MMBtu energy tax credit. There is a very unlevel playing field across all renewables.” While the Manomet study prompted assumptions that there are great schisms between the environmental community and the biomass community, Cleaves suggested that the idea is a complete disconnect from the truth. “For months we’ve been working with many of them on passing a federal renewable energy standard, and what’s happening in Massachusetts right now and other states is critically important," he said. "State mandates right now are valuable, vulnerable, uncertain and intensely political.” Last, Cleaves encouraged industry members to provide comments on the Boiler MACT [Maximum Achievable Control Technology] ruling, as the public comment period is approaching. “This could really— in a not-so-subtle way—stop the biomass industry in its tracks,” he said, adding that he is, however, confident in a favorable outcome of the Greenhouse Gas Tailoring Rule.
A Northeast Low-Carbon Fuel Standard Director of the Northeast Regional New Fuels Alliance Andrew Schuyler, who followed Cleaves, explained some policies the organization has been working on, primarily the development of a Low Carbon Fuel Standard similar to California’s. He explained that the LCFS which originated three years ago and aims to reduce the carbon footprint