LYNDON, Vt. (WCAX) – A new kind of power plant could be coming to Vermont. A company wants to build a wood biogas powerplant in the Northeast Kingdom but some opponents are questioning if it is as climate-friendly as it claims.
Neighbors in the town of Lyndon are raising some concerns about the possibility of a new biogas powerplant moving into the St. Jonsbury-Lyndon Industrial Park.
“It wasn’t until the beginning of last week I received an official notice. Only abutting landowners were entitled to receive. The general community did not get notice of this,” said John Ling, who has owned NEK Collision Repair for about five years and is across the street from where the proposed 8,000-square-foot 2.2MW facility would go. He’s concerned about emissions and the well-being of his employees and customers. “We work with the doors open a lot. I’m really worried about the three stacks that they’re going to have burning methane. Especially still, really humid days when that pollution lingers, it would get hard to breathe. I moved to Vermont for the nice clean air.”
Vermont Renewable Gas’ Evan Dell’Olio says the plant would decompose scrap wood chips to produce to generate electricity. He says the byproduct — called biochar — could be used as fertilizer. Dell’Olio says the state’s renewable energy goals fit with his vision for the plant. “It brings a sustainable business model that not only produces clean, renewable energy but also produces biochar in a community scale volume. There are farms, there are other people interested in the state, in using biochar and that level of production has not yet existed,” he said.
The company filed for a certificate of public good with the Vermont Public Utility Commission. If approved, the Lyndon Electric Department and other utilities would be required to use a portion of the electricity under the state’s standard offer program.
But many still have questions about the project and its effects on the environment, including the Conservation Law Foundation. “This is the first plant of its kind that would be sited in the state. The technology that is underlying it is — I think this is the first time it’s being used in the country. Whether we need another facility like this, we don’t really know because there are still some unanswered questions,” said CLF’s Adam Aguirre/:
Members of the group Stop Vermont Biomass say the wood pitched for use in the project might not be scrap at all. “When you hear the term residue in the context of the forestry industry, residue can be a tree that is not marketable for high-value lumber. It is a tree that is very valuable from the standpoint of supporting biodiversity,” said the group’s Ashley Adam.
The developer denies that they’ll be harvesting good trees.
Lyndon town officials aren’t sure of what kind of impact this could have on the area but will likely be intervenors in the case.
There’s no word on when the PUC will make a decision.