Another article in our on-going exploration of biomass. This one is written by Stephanie Boyd, Director, Zilkha Center for Environmental Initiatives at Williams College.
When we flip a light switch we are making the final connection on the utility grid that brings us electrical energy that has been generated many miles away from our homes, sometimes even thousands of miles away.
Many of us don’t stop to think about the implications, complications, and environmental impact of producing and distributing electricity on a day-in and day-out basis to all the towns and cities and communities across the country.
What fuel is used to produce those charged electrons that we cannot imagine living without?
Where does it come from and what does it take to turn that fuel into electricity?
In New England most of our electricity is produced at natural gas-fired generating facilities. They account for about 30% of the 126,800 GWh (gigawatt hours) that we use annually, according to ISO New England. (Multiply GWh by 1,000,000 to convert to kWh).
Another 29% comes from nuclear plants; 10% from coal; 9.8% from oil/gas; 8.5% from large hydro-power plants located in Quebec, Canada; 3.2 % from wood/refuse (or biomass). The remainder is made up of generation from smaller hydro-plants, methane, wind and a few other things.
Currently, we are grappling with the issue of whether a biomass plant should be constructed in one of our local communities. The proposed plant is rated at 29 MW (megawatts) and is expected to use woody biomass as its fuel and to use heat generated at the facility in the production of wood pellets.
It seems reasonable to ask whether a facility of this size is in line with our local energy needs. Lets look at a few more numbers.
There are about 14,000,000 people residing in New England consuming the 126,800 or so GWh hours of electricity produced annually; this equates to about 9060 kWh per person. Obviously, this is an average number and would include not only electricity used in family homes, but in the businesses we work in, the schools we learn in, and the factories that produce the goods and services we purchase and use and sell to earn our incomes.
According to the 2000 census, there are about 28,000 people living in the communities of Williamstown, Pownal, and Bennington. So on average, electrical consumption would be in the order of 253,600,000 kWh per year (9060 kWh * 28,000 people).
Of course, it is very likely that the direct electrical consumption is lower than I have calculated since the factories that produce the goods that we consume are not located in our rural communities. On the other hand, we might argue that since we consume goods and services at the same rate as others, we have an implicit responsibility for the energy used in their production.
Assuming that the proposed plant produces at 90% of its rated capacity (which is optimistic), it would produce about 228,000,000 kWh per year (that’s 90% of 29 MW * 24hrs/day * 365 hrs/year); just under our local community’s electricity consumption. So, even a plant of this size would not be able to meet the total demand of Pownal and surrounding towns.
Whether or not we think this plant is right for our community, the issues surrounding it force us to reflect on where and how we want our electricity to be generated and underscore the importance of developing long-term workable strategies for building a sustainable future.
Megamenu Social