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Renewable-energy advocates say biomass can do more for Florida

By: Kenric Ward | Posted: April 6, 2010 4:05 PM

Around the State

Being the Sunshine State, Florida is prime real estate for solar power, but energy experts say more fertile fields -- and bigger job generators -- can be found in the ground.

"There's huge untapped potential," says Mike Antheil, executive director of the Florida Alliance for Renewable Energy.

Tags: BP, Business, Florida Alliance for Renewable Energy, Florida Farm Bureau, Florida Fuel Solutions, Florida Renewable Energy Association, Jay Levenstein, New Planet Energy, News, Sean Stafford, Seth McKeel, Verenium

Comments (4)

Ted Sparling

6:40PM APR 7TH 2010

The short of it is that we need alternative energy products and the incentives to slowly ween ourselves from petroleum. Everyone is going to have an opinion but the facts are that we have available resources and proven technologies to do that. Biomass can be and is successfully used in many different applications without the negative effects described by an earlier commenter. This is only one part of a multi-part solution but can work.
There will always be people/companies out there who take advantage of the grants and incentives. Regardless we have to move forward. Florida currently has no renewable energy portfolio and that makes no sense. We have enormous potential, can create thousands of jobs, and be more energy independent.
Its up to all of us to make this happen, and its our governments job, at least initially, to help us become more energy efficient. Once we are successful, believe me,the tax man will be there to collect on his investment.
T Sparling

LDouglas

1:06PM APR 7TH 2010

After thinking about it more this morning, I came back to say another benefit solar would have is that if our population continues to grow as expected, it wouldn't pit food production against energy production. If we rely on growing bio-mass for our energy needs in the meantime, we may find ourselves short of energy at some point.

And now Mr. Greene brings up other really important things to consider. Besides if we could produce enough to keep them going, there's no way we should settle for new energy sources that pollute our air. (Again, not an environmental concern, but a health concern. And health care is expensive.)

Jack Greene

12:31PM APR 7TH 2010

I agree with the first commentor on several points, particularly that we need to have solar much more available to us. I agree except for burning/gasifying biomass. As a person educated in agriculture, and having worked in many capacities in the ag biz all my life, I can tell you that biomass is not the way to go. It's another form of dirty energy, now rife with boondoggling and graft and corruption, taking our tax money via grants, subsidies, and stimulus funds......to mostly opportunists who have no experience at building and operating any kind of clean energy facility. We'd be much better off to be money on the real renewables: solar, wind where possible in FL, geothermal, ocean current, tidal current, efficiencies and conservation.
We can't BURN anything and get out of the mess we are in now.
The big utilities are keeping us from having solar; they've put up roadblocks at every turn.
Growing crops to burn is the latest scam. We can't possibly grow enough sustainably to feed burners/gasifiers. The numbers just don't add up. There are no successful gasifiers operating in the US. BG&E and S Glenn Farris, attempting to cite a bad idea biomass burner in Port St Joe, failed miserably with FERCO in Burlington, VT. The gasifier sits mothballed, Farris left the city $2M in debt, and walked away with $37M of your DOE funds, after filing bankruptcy. This is just one example of the scam.
Another one is in Drifton, FL, Jefferson County, where a burner sits, closed down, because the operators tired of paying for wood chips, and instead started burning garbage from New York, emitting noxious toxic fumes into the air. That's the fate of most of these big plans, and they end up costing all of us money, while the shysters who propose these burners get million$ of our tax dollars.
Biomass is definitely not the way to go, for so many reasons. We need to be working on the real renewables.

LDouglas

8:45AM APR 7TH 2010

Interesting! Not only are we capable of growing crops for biomass but week after week we fill trucks with our yard waste. I think they're considering a plant that uses yard debris in Port St. Joe. (Though I have mixed feelings about that- a certain amount has to go back to the earth to create topsoil- it's not an environmental thing- it's a necessity to most farming.)

Anyway, we also have a lot of nutrient laden waters that probably could be diverted to growing bio-mass, including algae.

As far as solar energy goes, they shouldn't discount the big benefit- if it's installed on rooftops and not a central utility owned plant. It would not only create more jobs, it would lower our cost of living and free up money to circulate in the economy.

I'd like to see our legislature pass a bill that would require FPL and other utilities to collect fees like they do to build new powerplants but instead hand it over to outfit private homes and businesses with their own solar power. (Hey, we have to pay Utility Companies to build new powerplants for new customers- why not pay for rooftop solar for people in our communities instead?)

Think about how much better off we'd be if thousands of people and businesses had little upfront cost to install solar and instead of sending their hard earned money to sit in the bank accounts of remote investors, they had it to save, reinvest in their business, or to spend and circulate back into the economy.

We're putting a lot of thought and effort into creating wealth i.e. "good jobs" but unless we get a handle on our rising costs of living, they'll never be good enough.