Allan Gerlat, News Editor

February 13, 2014

1 Min Read
Vermont Board Denies Proposed Biomass-to-Energy Plant

The Vermont Public Service Board denied approval for a proposed biomass-to-energy plant in the state.

The quasi-judicial board denied a certificate for a proposed 35-megawatt facility in North Springfield, saying that the project would hamper the state’s ability to meet statutory goals for reducing greenhouse gases, according to a news release from the advocacy group Partnership for Policy Integrity.

The plant would have burned 450,000 tons of wood a year, and carbon dioxide emissions would have been more than 445,000 tons per year.

The board also expressed concern about the low thermal efficiency of the plant, which would have peaked at 28 percent.

Vermont has a state goal of reducing greenhouse gas emissions by 50 percent from 1990 levels by 2028.

“This is an important decision for the state of Vermont, and nationally,” said Mary Booth, director of the Partnership for Policy Integrity. “When policymakers see that bioenergy involves harvesting forests and burning the wood in low-efficiency power plants, they conclude that large-scale bioenergy isn’t compatible with greenhouse gas reduction goals.”

About the Author(s)

Allan Gerlat

News Editor, Waste360

Allan Gerlat joined the Waste360 staff in September 2011 as news editor. He was the editor of Waste & Recycling News for the first 16 years of its history, and under his guidance the publication won 27 national and regional awards.

Before Waste & Recycling News, Allan worked at another Crain Communications publication, Rubber & Plastics News, which covers rubber product manufacturing. He began with the publication as associate editor and eventually became managing editor, a position he held for nine years.

Allan is a graduate of Ohio University, where he earned a BS in journalism. He is based in Sagamore Hills, in northeast Ohio.

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