Rachel Smolker: Burning biomass is not carbon neutral
Editor’s note: This commentary is by Rachel Smolker, who is a co-director of Biofuelwatch. She has researched, written about and campaigned against large scale bioenergy and its negative impacts on...
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Montpelier biomass may make capital bill cut; Ethan Allen Room up for grabs
Wood chip boiler at Calais Elementary School. VPIRG is promoting biomass heating systems as an alternative to fossil fuels. Photo by Josh Larkin. Senators did not really agree Tuesday to spend $7...
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Biomass working group weighs merits of wood-generated power
The Joseph C. McNeil Generating Station in Burlington. VTD/Josh Larkin A day after residents of the city of Montpelier voted by an overwhelming margin to approve a biomass heating district proposal for...
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Biomass: A sustainable, but “never carbon neutral” resource
Wood chip boiler at Calais Elementary School. VPIRG is promoting biomass heating systems as an alternative to fossil fuels. Photo by Josh Larkin. As farmers have abandoned fields over the last 150...
View ArticleMatera: Clean energy does not come out of a smokestack
Editor’s note: This op-ed is by Chris Matera, a civil engineer and founder of Massachusetts Forest Watch, a forest preservation advocacy group. As Vermont considers the recently released Comprehensive...
View ArticleBiomass report draws ire of foresters and environmentalists
MONTPELIER – The final draft of a report to the Legislature on the use of woody biomass in the state of Vermont won praise, vehement condemnation and everything in between Tuesday night. A 15-member...
View ArticleEnvironmentalists want “tiered” approach to efficiency standards for biomass
Some wood burning plants are greener than others, and one environmental group wants the Legislature to take that into account in a renewable energy bill. The Vermont Natural Resources Council is...
View ArticleDigger Tidbits: More merger, fracking and biomass
Utility merger bill amendment will get more hearings Proponents in the Legislature of a cash payment for ratepayers in a utility merger between Green Mountain Power and Central Vermont Public Service...
View ArticleSchlossberg: Carbon accounting error skews Burlington’s Climate Action Plan
Editor’s note: Josh Schlossberg is the editor of The Biomass Monitor. A groundswell of Vermonters is dead serious about reducing the state’s carbon footprint to tackle runaway climate change. We are...
View ArticleKropelin: The many benefits of Burlington’s McNeil Station to Vermont
Editor’s note: This op-ed is by Bill Kropelin, the chief forester at the McNeil Generating Station in Burlington. VTDigger recently published a press release authored by paid advocate Josh Schlossberg...
View ArticleSmith: ‘Let’s talk about wind … and biomass and solar and hydro’
Editor’s note: This commentary is by Annette Smith, the executive director of Vermonters for a Clean Environment. So said Rep. Tony Klein at a recent joint legislative energy committee meeting. After...
View ArticlePSB denies permit for North Springfield biomass project
The Vermont Public Service Board rejected a proposed wood-fired electric plant in North Springfield on Tuesday. The 25-35 megawatt North Springfield Sustainable Energy Project was announced in 2009....
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ANR wants more resources to handle increase in renewable energy projects
A solar farm in South Burlington. VTDigger file photoThe Agency of Natural Resources says it needs more money to keep up with the growth of renewable energy projects in Vermont. Without hiring new...
View ArticleBiomass plant considered for Vermont Yankee site
Editor’s note: This article is by Mike Faher of the Brattleboro Reformer, in which it first appeared June 4, 2014. VERNON — Selectboard members are touting the potential benefits of new biomass power...
View ArticleAndrew Perchlik: Local wood for local good
Editor’s note: This commentary is by Andrew Perchlik, who is manager of the Clean Energy Development Fund at the Vermont Public Service Department. Recent news coverage has detailed how our forestry...
View ArticleScientists say Dartmouth College’s biomass plan is a bad idea
This story by Tim Camerato was published in the Valley News on July 25. HANOVER — A group of prominent scientists and Dartmouth College alumni are urging the school to cancel its plans to build a...
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Biomass could replace natural gas at Brattleboro paper board factory
Machines at a Neenah Paper plant. Supplied photo Long Falls Paperboard, the company that this year bought the former Neenah Paper Inc. plant in Brattleboro, is using a $1 million federal grant to...
View ArticleRon Krupp: Are trees the new coal?
Editor’s note: This commentary is by Ron Krupp, who is the author of “The Woodchuck Returns to Gardening.” Most people who saw the film “Burned: Are Trees the New Coal,” had no idea about the issue...
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Is time ticking on the Ryegate Power Station biomass plant?
Sen. Mark MacDonald, D-Orange, shown here in a pre-pandemic 2019 Senate committee meeting, favors giving the Ryegate biomass plant two more years to justify its continuance. File photo by Glenn...
View ArticleDan Young: Climate change and planetary disorder
This commentary is by Dan Young of Hyde Park, author of "Restoring Climate Stability by Managing Ecological Disorder," a book analyzing the non-equilibrium thermodynamics of climate change. It’s time...
View ArticleAlison Despathy: Clean heat standard was corporate-driven, not a real...
This commentary is by Alison Despathy, a resident of Danville. Hopefully through research, awareness, working with their constituents and asking critical questions, Vermont legislators can work to...
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Burlington files for state approval of district energy project at McNeil plant
The McNeil Generating Station in Burlington on Thursday, August 1, 2019. Photo by Glenn Russell Discussed since the early 1980s, a plan to harness steam heat from Burlington’s wood-fired power plant...
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Cheryl Joy Lipton: Key elements missing from Vermont climate change plans
Commentaries are opinion pieces contributed by readers and newsmakers. VTDigger strives to publish a variety of views from a broad range of Vermonters. Commentaries give voice to community members and...
View ArticleSchlossberg: More handouts for smokestacks and clearcuts?
Editor’s note: This op-ed is by Josh Schlossberg, the communication coordinator for Biomass Accountability Project and editor/journalist for Biomass Busters newsletter. He encourages you to contact...
View ArticleKirby: Getting at the “whole” truth on biomass
Editor’s note: This op-ed is by Lawrence “Rip” Kirby, an electrical engineer who works for Central Vermont Public Service. He lives in Rutland. A good friend of mine, an attorney, once told me that...
View ArticleWuerther: Better to reduce overall energy use than rely on biomass
Editor’s note: This op-ed is by George Wuerthner, an ecologist and author of Wildfire: A Century of Failed Forest Policy and currently working on a book about energy and its impacts on upon the land,...
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The “biomass” option catches on in Vermont
Editor’s note: The original version of this article, which has been updated for VTDigger.org, first appeared in Vermont Property Owners Report, a Montpelier-based subscription newsletter. Van Susteren...
View ArticleMatera: Burning more wood is for cavemen
Editor’s note: This op-ed is by Chris Matera, a civil engineer and the founder of Massachusetts Forest Watch, a citizen watchdog group. We need to get serious about global warming and clean energy, but...
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Biomass power plant developers make last ditch effort for Statehouse support
3D rendering of the Beaver Wood Energy biomass plant proposed for Fairhaven MONTPELIER – As a forester, Phil Stannard Jr. knows something about biomass, Vermont’s bounteous forest resource and the...
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Burlingtonians debate the use of biomass and a new district energy proposal
A panel that included representatives from Burlington Electric Department, climate change scientists and members of the forestry industry listens to public comments Tuesday night, June 13, 2023, at...
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