Biomass power is far from green.
New biomass regulations from the Massachusetts Department of Energy Resources disqualify stand-alone biomass power facilities from receiving the US equivalent of the subsidies called Renewable Obligation Certificates (ROCs) that UK biomass power plants are eligible for. Combined heat and power biomass facilities with an efficiency of at least 50 per cent are still eligible for the subsidies.
The new Massachusetts regulations come in response to widespread public opposition to biomass incinerators, and to a study that showed that biomass power generation is not carbon neutral.
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