States in the Midwest can work together to bolster the use of biomass co-firing in coal-fueled power plants to drive down carbon dioxide emissions, according to a report from the University of Missouri. Interested in how woody biomass could be harnessed to help states reach the federally set emissions reduction targets of the federal Clean Power Plan, researchers determined that interactions between states on the topic need to improve.
“We already have plenty of biomass available to burn. In fact, we could greatly increase the amount of biomass we harvest from forests and still maintain healthy forest ecosystems. The problem has been that not enough information has been shared among states, power utilities and power plants to allow them to work together efficiently to maximize bio-energy production,” Francisco Aguilar, associate professor of forestry at MU, said in a release issued Tuesday.
The researchers took into account which power plants in Missouri, Iowa, Illinois, Wisconsin, and Minnesota could be modified to burn woody biomass and which states could partner to increase biomass use in the most efficient manner. “The researchers found that for any emission level considered, Missouri would benefit by partnering with other states; some potential partnerships (e.g., with Iowa) provide the best partnership for achieving modest emissions reductions, while other partnerships (e.g., with Minnesota and Wisconsin) would be preferable if the goal was more to make more significant emissions reductions,” the release says.
