Biomass seen as part of path to renewable energy in N.J.

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http://www.dailyrecord.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080803/COMMUNITIES43/808030371/1005/NEWS01

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The draft New Jersey Energy Master Plan includes biomass generation in the mix of renewable fuel sources as it seeks to reduce the state's energy consumption by 20 percent over the next decade.

That report says that energy demand projections from January show that peak demand for electricity will grow in New Jersey through 2018 at 1.75 percent annually -- more than 2.5 times faster than the supply of electricity has grown recently.

The draft energy master plan sets a goal of generating 22.5 percent of the state's electricity needs from renewable sources such as solar and wind. They include 900 megawatts from biomass generation, provided "the biomass is cultivated and harvested in a sustainable manner."

A study, by the Rutgers New Jersey Agricultural Experiment Station that assessed the potential of biomass energy in the state, and cited in the energy master plan, said:

• New Jersey produces an estimated 8.2 million dry tons of biomass annually.

• About 5.4 million tons of that total could be used for energy production.

• About 75 percent of the state's biomass resources are produced by the state's population, a majority of which is municipal waste, with agriculture and forestry waste accounting for the rest. New Jersey residents generate 6.7 pounds of trash per person per day, 50 percent more than the national average.

• The state's five municipal solid waste incinerators convert 17 percent of that waste into energy.

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