Herald story- page 1

COVER STORY
Biomass to the rescue?
•Interview with executive director of Southern Alliance for Clean Energy Stephen Smith
By JOHN DORSCHNER
dorschner@MiamiHerald.com
for Biomass Gas & Electric, which has deals
to build three plants in Florida

Nobody loves biomass. When talk turns to global warming and the green movement, it's hardly ever mentioned. Biomass can be garbage (literally) or wood chips or sugar-cane remnants or grass.

Still, among energy experts, biomass has some strong supporters, and for good reason: Right now, virtually all the renewable-energy power in Florida comes from biomass, including three plants in Miami-Dade and Broward.

What's more, it's cheap -- cheaper in some instances even than coal, which is generally considered the nation's least expensive way of producing electricity but is also the biggest producer of greenhouse gases that scientists say are heating up the globe.

''We're very strong supporters of biomass,'' says Stephen Smith, head of the Southern Alliance for Clean Energy. ''In the short run, it will be a real workhorse.'' But he adds: ``There are various shades of green in biomass. Some is better than others.''

As policymakers search for alternatives to fossil fuels that threaten to submerge South Florida under the sea, biomass has emerged as a leading possibility, much more plausible than wind in the state, but it comes with strong pluses and minuses.

Big business has gotten involved. Leading biomass producers -- including the multimillionaire Fanjul family with an electric plant burning sugar-cane leftovers -- have joined the push to require utilities to use more renewables and pay proper rates for them, which would mean the businesses could get decent revenue by expanding operations.

Still, many have concerns. ''Not all biomass is created equal,'' says Gerald Karnas of the Environmental Defense Fund.

Some environmentalists believe garbage is not as green as, say, wood chips. Others worry that arundo donax, a towering grass proposed by some as a biomass fuel, might spread unintentionally to many areas, including the Everglades, as have other non-native plants.

What's more, major companies in North Florida that use wood products are concerned that state subsidies for renewable energy could drive up the prices of timber that are used for everything from paper to fat-free ice cream.

Even so, research prepared for the Public Service Commission is showing that biomass and solar are the two top practical renewables in Florida.

''The bottom line is that Florida is well positioned for growth in biomass,'' says Sean Stafford, a lobbyist for Florida Crystals, the Fanjul company. He points out that biomass does not have the ''volatile price structure'' associated with natural gas, the No. 1 energy source of Florida Power & Light.

What follows is a primer on biomass.

ITS QUALITIES:

CARBON NEUTRAL?

Some biomass -- sugar-cane waste, wood chips -- is generally considered carbon neutral. As cane and trees grow, they soak up carbon dioxide, the major greenhouse gas. That gas is released when the biomass is burned, meaning they produce energy without contributing to climate change.

Garbage is another story. ''In Florida, biomass has a a very broad definition, according to the state legislature,'' says Karnas. ``In some states, power from municipal solid waste wouldn't be considered a renewable.''

The reason: Experts dispute how carbon neutral garbage is. ''It depends what's in it,'' says Smith of the Southern Alliance. ``If it's mostly yard clippings and paper, that could mean very little carbon. If there's a lot of plastic, that's made by a fossil fuel, meaning it's releasing quite a bit of carbon.''