From:                                         Trevor Kearns <tckearns@gmail.com>

Sent:                                           Friday, June 7, 2019 1:18 PM

To:                                               RPS, DOER (ENE)

Subject:                                     Regarding the proposed changes to RPS

 

Dear Mr. Wassam,

 

I am deeply concerned - very nearly aghast, in fact - at the proposed changes to the state RPS that would allow biomass-burning power plants to qualify for renewable energy credits, or to be considered in any way whatsoever as a renewable energy technology to begin with. I firmly oppose these changes, as there is more than ample scientific evidence that shows the electricity generated from such plants would be generated more efficiently and with far less pollution (in particular, carbon footprint and particulates) through truly renewable sources (geothermal, wind, solar, tidal).

 

Perhaps in a century or two, if we survive the climate crisis, we might have arranged our economy in such a way that it produces enough expendable biomass to warrant burning it for electricity, but in the meantime, cutting a tree to burn now that would require 30 years for the replacement of its carbon-fixing capacity (a replanted sapling) only exacerbates the climate crisis, as the carbon and VOCs released in the burning will not be taken up in woody tissue in a timeframe that warrants the label "renewable." Biomass is only renewable, in other words, within a timeframe from which the urgent reduction of carbon emissions on the order of two or three decades is absent.

 

Please consider the secure future and health of the Commonwealth, which surely lies in the promotion of even more dense forest cover than we currently enjoy - not the other way around.

 

Best,

Trevor Kearns

115 Montague Rd.

Wendell, MA 01379