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UK Biomass Project Halted, Developer Blames “erosion of support” for Biomass

UK biomass project halted, developer blames “erosion of support” for biomass

– by Nina Chestney, March 7, 2014. Source: Reuters

[[{"type":"media","view_mode":"media_large","fid":"60","attributes":{"alt":"","class":"media-image","height":"480","style":"width: 333px; height: 333px; float: left; margin-left: 10px; margin-right: 10px;","width":"480"}}]]Renewable energy developer RES has stopped a 300-million-pound ($500 million) project to build a biomass plant in Northumberland, northeast England, due to what it called inconsistent government subsidies.

The 100-megawatt (MW) plant was scheduled to be built at the Port of Blyth, creating 300 construction jobs and 50 operational jobs, RES said.

The company received permission to build the project from the government last year.

"It's bitterly disappointing for RES that we are unable to bring this exciting project forward, and deliver the significant boost it would have represented for the Blyth and Northumberland economy," RES Chief Operating Officer Gordon MacDougall said in a statement.

"However, the gradual erosion of support for dedicated biomass leaves us with no other option," he added.

Fanning the Northeastern Biomass Flame

[The biomass industry is teaming up with environmentalists to increase the amount of forests burned for polluting energy in the Great North Woods.]
 
Fanning the Northeastern Biomass Flame
 
- by Joseph Seymour, March 11, 2014. Source: Biomass Magazine
 
[[{"type":"media","view_mode":"media_large","fid":"115","attributes":{"alt":"","class":"media-image","height":"270","style":"width: 366px; height: 244px; float: left; margin-left: 10px; margin-right: 10px;","width":"480"}}]]Migrating 1 million homes to biomass heat is optimistic—let alone 6 million—but recent developments in the northeastern U.S. are driving this vision ever closer to reality, says Biomass Thermal Energy Council Executive Director Joseph Seymour.
 
Bill Strauss, the Biomass Thermal Energy Council’s chief economist, recently reported that 1.34 million jobs would be created if the 6 million rural homes using expensive fossil fuels like propane and heating oil switched to domestically produced wood pellet fuel. Migrating 1 million homes to biomass heating fuels is optimistic—let alone 6 million—but recent developments in the northeastern U.S. are driving this vision ever closer to reality.

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