Traverse City residents fight proposed biomass plant

Traverse City Light and Power is an energy provider on the noble quest to find clean and renewable energy in Northern Michigan. Unfortunately, they claim they have found the answer to their sustainability dilemmas in biomass.

Light and Power brought their idea of a biomass plant to the citizens of Traverse City several months ago. Their goal is to have 30% of their power generation come from renewable sources by the year 2020. “Renewable sources” seems to be a term the company leaves open to interpretation.

Many renewable energy fans would find a biomass plant that burns high volumes of wood neither efficient nor environmentally friendly. Rachel Smolker, a forest researcher and climate advocate, quoted in The Traverse City Record-Eagle, calls wood a weak source of energy and is opposed to biomass plants.

"You're talking about huge, huge volumes of materials that need to be transported and burned in order ... to get any kind of significant energy," she said.

Many citizens of Traverse City seem to agree with Smolker’s sentiments. They have flooded forums asking for more thorough information on the sustainability of biomass and its impacts on the environment, especially forests.

A month after the first two forums, however, Light and Power issued a letter explaining that it is still convinced that a biomass plant is the best option.  Local groups and even a city official are now calling the forums a charade. They believe Light and Power had made up its mind to build the bio mass power plant regardless of environmental impacts or public opinion.

We applaud Traverse City residents’ stamina in continuing discussions with Light and Power. Hopefully, Light and Power decides to meet a different definition of renewable energy: one that residents and environmental experts agree is environmentally sound.