Is Biomass Clean or Dirty Energy? We Won't Know for 3 Years

Reuters
By Stacy Feldman at SolveClimate
Thu Jan 13, 2011 3:34pm EST

Should turning tree parts into electricity qualify as renewable power or is the practice dirtier than burning coal?

The Obama administration put off for another three years a decision on whether to regulate planet-warming gases from biomass power. The surprise delay dealt a blow to green groups' hopes for pollution controls on wood-burning incinerators anytime soon, while industry breathed sighs of relief.

"It was a total shock," said Margaret Sheehan, a lawyer with the Cambridge, Mass.-based Biomass Accountability Project, who said that she believes Big Timber was behind the U.S. EPA's decision.

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