May 13, 2010
(E & E) Kerry-Lieberman bill follows House lead on biomass, biofuels
Biomass electricity and biofuels would not be subject to carbon permit requirements or new forest harvest regulations under Senate energy and climate legislation released yesterday, but the bill does leave room for federal agencies to recommend changes to those policies down the line.
The bill from Sens. John Kerry (D-Mass.) and Joe Lieberman (I-Conn.) would not count carbon released from biomass electricity plants or biofuels against a national cap on carbon emissions, exempting producers from the requirement to buy allowances for those emissions.
To qualify for the exemption, the power plants and fuels would have to use materials that meet the bill's standard for "renewable biomass," a definition that is the basis for an ongoing struggle pitting environmental groups against a coalition of foresters, farmers and utilities.
The measure would adopt separate definitions for renewable biomass from federal and non-federal land.
Within federal forests, renewable biomass would include trees, brush, wood chips and other organic materials from federal logging projects. Organic materials from wilderness and roadless areas, n
ational monuments, old-growth timber stands and other areas recognized for conservation would not be eligible. The federal agency managing the forest would have to assure that biomass was harvested in "environmentally sustainable" quantities.
On private lands, the bill would recognize any organic matter available on a renewable or recurring basis, including trees, other plants and leftovers from the agriculture, forest and forest products industry.
The definition is nearly identical to the one included in the climate bill (H.R. 2454) that the House passed last summer. That definition, adopted at the last moment by House Agriculture Chairman Colin Peterson (D-Minn.), was key to winning support from farm-state moderates but a sticking point for many environmental groups.
Environmentalists argue that the bill creates a "biomass loophole" by exempting biomass emissions from the carbon cap without an accounting system that ensures the power is actually carbon-neutral. They also say that incentives for biomass collection could lead to deforestation unless properly checked by limits on what can be harvested as renewable ...
