Several groups representing what they claim to be thousands of Massachusetts residents have sent a letter to Gov. Charlie Baker urging the administration to stop promoting biomass wood heat by awarding nearly $3 million to such projects this year.
Janet Sinclair, the Shelburne Falls woman who led the charge against a proposed biomass plant in Greenfield several years ago, said biomass is a “big problem.” She said because of that, the administration should not be further weakening any regulations.
“There are so many other routes we can take,” she said. “But, the government is paying these companies to pollute the air and cut down our forests.”
More than 30 Massachusetts groups and scientists sent a letter to Baker protesting the Department of Energy Resources recent monetary awards for wood-chipping facilities in western Massachusetts. The letter calls on the administration to “stop promoting wood burning as “clean” energy.
The letter aligns with a bill supported by Sen. Jo Comerford, D-Northampton, Rep. Natalie Blais, D-Sunderland, and Rep. Paul Mark, D-Pittsfield. The bill, H853, was introduced in the Legislature earlier this year. If passed, it would remove words and phrases like “biomass,” “wood-burning” and “garbage incinerators” from eligibility in the state’s Alternative Portfolio Standard, which includes all types of renewable energy technologies that the state tries to encourage in its drive to lower its carbon footprint.
Sinclair said the state should be focusing more on solar thermal and geothermal methods of heating, rather than dirty methods like wood-burning.
“The Commonwealth should not be incentivizing technologies that will accelerate climate change, worsen air quality and use our forests for fuel,” the letter states.
The groups charge that the Baker administration is promoting wood-burning heat through a variety of state programs at the expense of other renewable technologies that don’t pollute. They said wood-burning boilers and stoves are already a major source of air pollution in Massachusetts, and should not be allowed to continue.
“We can’t burn our way out of the climate crisis,” said Mary S. Booth, director of the Pelham-based Partnership for Policy Integrity. “Climate scientists agree that to avoid catastrophic climate change, we need to reduce carbon emissions and increase nature carbon sinks. Especially, forests. Instead of following the science, the Baker administration is using taxpayer and ratepayer subsidies to prop up the logging industry and promote more biomass burning.”
In addition to the APS program, the state offers incentives for installing residential and commercial wood heating systems through the Massachusetts Clean Energy Center. It offers a rebate of up to $500,000 for commercial-scale projects and up to $16,500 for residential projects. That rebate program will expire in 2020 — though, the forestry industry is lobbying to extend the program for another 10 years.
In February, the Baker administration awarded five grants totaling close to $3 million. The grants are part of the Renewable Thermal Infrastructure Grant Program, an initiative focused on expanding the availability of renewable thermal technologies.
“Renewable heating is critical to reducing the Commonwealth’s greenhouse gas emissions and meeting our targets under the Global Warming Solutions Act,” Baker has said. “Supporting these technologies is an investment in our local economies, the sustainability of our energy future, and expanding heating options to our residents and businesses.”
“Our administration is committed to ensuring that communities across the Commonwealth have access to clean, affordable energy,” Lt. Gov. KarynPolito also has said. “With this investment, Massachusetts continues to lead the nation in renewable energy by providing increased access to the resources needed to heat homes and businesses comfortably.”
Those awarded grants are required to match at least 50 percent of the project costs, which would bring the total to about $6 million in infrastructure upgrades. Funded projects include woody biomass processing and delivery equipment, testing of modern wood heating and emission control devices to current U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) standards and the installation of a tank to blend eligible biofuels with conventional heating oils.
This program increases the availability of “affordable, sustainable and locally sourced dried-wood fuel” in the state, according to Energy and Environmental Affairs Secretary Matthew Beaton. “Advancing infrastructure for access to this fuel is critical to facilitating sustainable and responsible land management across the Commonwealth and creating a clean energy future,” he said.
“The infrastructure supported through this initiative reduces our reliance on conventional fossil fuels while lowering energy costs and greenhouse gas emissions across Massachusetts,” Department of Energy Resources Commissioner Judith Judson has said. “These heating technologies will have direct benefits to residents and businesses in the Commonwealth for years to come.”
The groups opposing biomass said the use of wood boilers for heating will not lower greenhouse gas emissions and is not environmentally friendly, sustainable or clean. They said wood burning is a major source of air pollution, placing the most vulnerable — children, elderly and people with heart and lung problems — at risk.