Report questions potential of biomass energy production

From the Florida Tribune

A new report analyzing the potential of Florida's forests to help produce electricity could raise further doubts about
proposed state goals to increase renewable energy.

The Legislature in 2008 adopted a comprehensive energy bill that directed state agencies to study the economic effects of providing financial incentives for biomass energy production from trees or waste wood.

The report, which was sent Thursday to the governor and Legislature, says that Florida's forests could support a 7-percent renewable energy goal for the state.

But a 20-percent goal by 2020, which has been recommended by Gov. Charlie Crist and the Florida Public Service Commission, could create "dramatic" price increases for wood products and cause forests to be harvested at unsustainable levels, the report said.

Read more at:
http://tinyurl.com/y8f4d8z
(Photo by Rob Davis. Story copyrighted by Bruce Ritchie and FloridaEnvironments.com. Do not copy or redistribute without permission.)