“Surrounded by expanses of open farming land, Kisielice now has two wind farms with a total of 48 turbines and an 82 MW capacity. A central heating network has also been built with the financial aid of grants and tax revenues. Fed by a biomass boiler with a 6 MW capacity and that runs on straw, it supplies heat to 85 percent of the town’s buildings. In summer, waste heat from the plant supplies hot water to the town. In December 2013, the town also built its first biogas power plant. This produces one MW of heat and one MW of electricity and is fed by locally grown corn silage.” (Beverley Mitchell, inhabitant.com)
If Kisielice can do this with biomass and wind, why can’t we? Image what we could do with a combination of biomass, wind AND solar?
NH Legislators did get it right this year by voting through an important biomass energy bill. Unfortunately, Governor Sununu looked only at short-term savings, and vetoed that bill.
It is possible to overturn the Governor’s veto on September 13, “Veto Day.” On that day, two-thirds of both chambers — 267 of the 400 members of the NH House, and 16/24 of the NH Senate —must vote to override the Governor’s vetos to reverse his decision.
With a legislative body that has been sharply criticized for poor attendance, we can only hope that our legislators will turn up to vote, and will vote the right way.
We need to think beyond the next election cycle and look to the future. We need to consider the long-term costs of energy, to say nothing about reducing the use of fossil fuels.
For more info about the NH biomass bill and the biomass industry, please see:
