EPA’s new emissions control regulations will threaten biomass facilities, according to Oregon’s timber industry.
The EPA recently finished the Prevention of Significant Discharge Tailoring Rule, which would regulate biomass emissions in the same way as fossil fuels.
Oregon’s forest products industry worries about the economic repercussions.
That doesn’t sit well with R. Wade Mosby, senior vice president of The Collins Cos., a Portland-based wood products company. Most facilities that process forest products burn waste wood and convert that to electricity to offset energy costs, Mosby said. If those facilities are subject to new permits or required to purchase expensive emissions control equipment in the future, Mosby said job losses could result.
“We would have to spend a huge amount of money to meet the standards the EPA has set,” Mosby said. “Paying for emissions control equipment can cost anywhere from 2 to 5 million dollars depending on the size of the biomass facility. If someone says, ‘I can’t afford to spend that,’ and shuts down a facility, it will put people out of work.”
Read more at the Daily Journal of Commerce.
{biztweet}EPA biomass{/biztweet}
