John Bos’ March 4 letter, “Pellet heating facts,” misuses our Health Care Without Harm publication to support his assertions on the health benefits of biomass and pellet technologies. “Powering the Future of Health Care … A Combined Heat and Power (CHP) Guide for Massachusetts Hospital Decision Makers” analyzes the economics and benefits of CHP with natural gas as the primary fuel, not biomass.
Biomass energy’s environmental and health impacts are entirely dependent on the specific feedstock (including forestry/logging practices), transport, pollution prevention, pollution control technologies, etc. of a particular application and site. Categorically endorsing (or rejecting) biomass in any of its many forms ignores sound science.
Biomass co-generation is not often practical for Massachusetts’ hospitals due to space constraints, traffic and other issues. That said, Cooley Dickinson’s biomass CHP system is clearly a good fit.
Paul Lipke
Montague
Bill Ravanesi
Longmeadow