Monday a week ago
Dr. William Sammons, a pediatrician
who has studied biomass plants nationwide, called them
“a medical atrocity.”
His
slides from that talk are now available on the LAKE web pages.
For example, he demonstrated that burning wood is dirtier than burning coal:
This slide shows data taken from biomass plant permits. Also notice Continue reading
“Proposed plant said to be ‘medical atrocity'”,
about Dr. William Sammons’ Monday
talk about health problems of biomass and how solar is better.
The VDT then featured biomass in its reporting on the AAUW Candidate Forum: Continue reading
Continue readingA growing organization of concerned citizens are opposing the building of a biomass energy plant in Lowndes County.
Wiregrass Activists for Clean Energy hope to promote clean and sustainable energies while also educating the public on how a biomass plant could be detrimental to community health.
The goal of the organization and the opposition to the plant is not to inhibit economic development but to promote a conversation on sustainable energy, Dr. Michael Noll, WACE president, said.
The new organization is not the only one in the community speaking out against the biomass plant.
Biomass plant fuels questionsContinue readingby Johnna Pinholster
The Valdosta Daily TimesVALDOSTA — As the state and nation look to renewable energy solutions, locally, a proposed green energy plant is causing controversy and raising questions that remain unanswered.
The Valdosta-Lowndes County Industrial Authority and Wiregrass Power, LLC are in the beginning phases of developing property for a future biomass electric generating plant.
…
Issues with lack of information
Johnna Pinholster writes in the
the Valdosta Daily Times (paper 25 Oct,
online 27 Oct 2010)
about the
the SAVE Biomass Forum at VSU:
A medical atrocity.Dr. Sammons answered many of the unanswered concerns about the biomass incinerator, and, unlike the lack of peer-reviewed evidence from the plant proponents: Continue readingThat is the phrase Dr. William Sammons used to described biomass energy plants at Monday night’s biomass forum at Valdosta State University’s Student Union theater.
Due to popular demand, the SAVE Biomass Forum has moved to a larger hall,
the Student Union Theater.
That’s on the east side of North Oak Street, across from Baytree Road.
It’s still Monday, 25 October 2010 from 7 to 9 PM, organized by Students Against Violating the Environment (SAVE) at Valdosta State University (VSU). The featured speaker is Dr. William Sammons, a pediatrician who has spoken nationally on the subject. Forum flyer PDF is available. See SAVE’s facebook event page for any updates. Continue reading
Monday, 25 October 2010 from 7 to 9 PM, Students Against Violating the Environment (SAVE) will hold a Biomass Forum at University Center at Valdosta State University (VSU).
Featured speaker Dr. William Sammons is a pediatrician who
has spoken nationally on the subject.
Forum flyer
PDF
is available.
See
SAVE’s facebook event page for any updates.
-jsq
BirdLife International writes about
Bioenergy – a carbon accounting time bomb:
The first study, carried out by Joanneum Research, identifies a major flaw in the way carbon savings from forest-derived biomass are calculated in EU law as well as under UNFCCC and Kyoto Protocol mechanisms. It concludes that harvesting trees for energy creates a ‘carbon debt’: the carbon contained in the trees is emitted upfront while trees grow back over many years. The true climate impact of so-called woody biomass in the short to medium term can, as a result, be worse than the fossil fuels it is designed to replace.Hm, this seems to contradict VLCIA’s assertion that the document they gave me proves their proposed wood incinerator would be carbon neutral. That document openly admits that biomass produces more CO2 than coal, and calls for national or regional studies, which didn’t exist. Nonetheless, when I pointed that out (again) to VLCIA Executive Director Brad Lofton, he asserted that “Carbon is absolutely not an issue with our plant.” Hm, well, now there is a study, and it shows that burning woody biomass is not carbon neutral.“The EU is taking out a sub-prime carbon mortgage that it may never be able to pay back. Biomass policy needs to be fixed before this regulatory failure leads to an ecological crisis that no bail out will ever fix”, commented Ariel Brunner, Head of EU Policy at BirdLife International.
And this excess production of CO2 isn’t limited to burning whole trees. Looking at the actual study:
When residues are left on the forest floor, they gradually decompose. A great deal of the carbon contained in their biomass is released over time into the atmosphere and a small fraction of the carbon is transformed into humus and soil carbon. When the residues are burnt as bioenergy, the carbon that would have been oxidized over a longer time and carbon that would have been stored in the soil is released immediately to the atmosphere. This produces a short term decrease of the dead wood and litter pools that is later translated into a decrease of soil carbon.So it doesn’t really matter that VLCIA asserts that their proposed plant will never burn whole trees. The tops and limbs they want to burn produce the same problem.
The study also includes comparisons with CO2 saved by biomass offsetting coal burning. The catch for the proposed biomass incinerator in Lowndes County is that it’s not offsetting anything: it’s in addition to the coal burned at Plant Scherer. We could offset some coal through efficiency and conservation, plus solar power. None of those things produce any emissions.
-jsq
Dear Pastors and fellow laborers in the Gospel of our Lord and Savior,Continue readingI was born and raised here in Lowndes County. Today I am as disturbed as I was in 1973 when I, along with 42 other students, four ministers and their wives, were jailed for protesting unfair treatment of students in the Lowndes County School System. We were arrested while standing in the parking lot awaiting to enter the building for a meeting called by the Lowndes County Board of Education at their office on St. Augustine Road. The meeting was supposed to be a good faith gesture designed to mediate an amicable solution to the picketing which had been in process for nearly six months. After being arrested, we were moved from Big 12 in a prison truck in the dead of night. We were to be housed in the Cook County jail and none of our parents knew where we were. When we exited the truck, both sides of the walk way upon which we had to walk were lined with numerous State Troopers and other Law Enforcement officers sporting riot gear and shotguns. On the following day they refused to feed us breakfast. We began to complain and the judge came upstairs dressed in his robe. He said “I want you to stop making noise, and if you don’t, I can make you stop.”
When we complained again, the cell in which we were jailed was sprayed down with tear gas. We had one toilet and one sink in which to clear our eyes. These are facts that went unreported by the papers. In fact they said we were rabble rousers. The late Ralph Harrington signed all our bonds, and we went through a lengthy trial, represented by the late Mr. C. B. King, Sr., of Albany, GA. At the close of the trial all charges were dismissed and expunged from our records.
As a student then, I witnessed the appalling silence of men and women of God who preached the hell out of people on Sundays, collected their checks, and went home untouched by the happenings in the community. This was much like the appalling silence of ministers who sat on the sidelines while Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., placed his life on the line for “the least of these.”
Some years ago, Rev. Floyd Rose, two of my sisters and several other
-jsq
Valdosta is an innovative city with expanding opportunities for our growing community. Valdosta has recently celebrated 150 years of progress. As a citizen, I have spent most of my adult life experiencing this progress. I’ve seen economic developments through recruitment, retention and expansions that benefit our city, with tremendous support from our communities. I’ve seen job opportunities that improve the livelihood of our citizens, through the recruitment of national companies who have established their businesses in our great city.Continue readingOur school systems are innovative, and they serve as models for other school systems in our state, with great parental involvement and encouragement toward improvements. Our University and College systems are some of the best in the state, with phenomenal enrollment and retention of traditional and non-traditional students in our city and abroad.
Our religious establishments are growing from leaps and bounds with more and more people becoming citizens of our great city, who are leaving larger unsafe, polluted, and unproductive cities, for a safer, less polluted and productive small town lifestyle, such as our wonderful city provides.
The development of small businesses, through our downtown projects, have been a great success story for our city. The innovative improvements make our city one of the most visited in our state. We pride ourselves as a Titletown community, through continuous progress over 150 years.
When I contemplate our shared 150 years of progress, I find it disturbing that our Industrial Authority would make such a bad decision as to bring a Biomass incinerator into our community. As an advocate for the welfare of children, women, and families I am gravely concerned and disappointed that such a project has been endorsed by leaders who were elected to carry out the wishes of the community for the betterment of all citizens.
