Dear Editor:

Recent letters opposing the LaGrange biomass power plant are misguided and reveal a misunderstanding of biomass energy technology.

First, plants like what is proposed in LaGrange will not consume large diameter trees. Only rarely would whole trees ever be chipped for energy - they are simply too valuable for use as furniture, lumber, plywood, or paper-pulp.

Additionally, I’d like to clarify information on the carbon emissions from biopower. Yes, wood combustion emits carbon, but the same limbs, sticks, bark, and sawdust would also emit carbon if left to rot on the forest floor. In some cases, they will emit more powerful greenhouse gases as they decompose (e.g., methane, which is 23 times more powerful than CO2 at trapping heat). Further, coal emits fossilized carbon; pollution that originated eons ago. When released into today’s atmosphere, this ancient CO2 contributes to global warming. Biomass, on the other hand, emits new carbon molecules from the current biological cycle. The purchase of this biomass can help ensure that the land will remain in production as forest or farm, continuing to soak-up more carbon from today’s atmosphere, and effectively closing the loop on the carbon cycle.

This question of new carbon versus fossil carbon is not a trivial one. It is a common misunderstanding of the carbon cycle, but it is a fatal flaw in the argument against plants like the one proposed in LaGrange. This science is supported by many. The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), for one, has published numerous documents on “mitigation,” and every single report that mentions biomass describes it as a tool to fight global warming.

The real problem in energy today is not biomass power plants - it is coal plants. With every new coal plant that is proposed, and every day of operation of old coal plants, our climate, our forests, our wetlands, and the stability of agriculture as we know it are threatened. Coal is not only dangerous, but it is a drain on our economy.

Finally, let me emphasize that Southern Alliance for Clean Energy is a strong supporter of energy efficiency as the first priority in creating a clean energy economy. We invite those opposed to the biomass power plant to join us in supporting and advocating for energy efficiency and all renewable energy sources and stopping new coal generation as strongly as you are in opposition to bioenergy. I think we can get a lot more accomplished in this way.

Anne Blair, program manager

Southern Alliance for Clean Energy


250 Arizona Ave.


 Atlanta, GA 30307