AWC: Clean Power Plan didn’t provide clarity on biomass

WASHINGTON - American Wood Council (AWC) President and CEO Robert Glowinski has issued the following statement regarding the release of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) proposed rule to repeal the Clean Power Plan.

“Despite claims of flexibility, the Clean Power Plan would have actually limited the types of renewable energy states could use, including our industry’s production and use of biomass energy.

“Our industry’s products, and the manner in which we produce and use biomass energy, are all part of the sustainable carbon cycle. By using biomass residuals as fuel, the wood products industry is harnessing energy that would have been lost to the atmosphere anyway and also displacing the use of more carbon-intensive fuels.

“AWC urges EPA to take the additional steps to fully recognize biomass energy produced from biomass residuals in the wood products industry is carbon neutral.”

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The American Wood Council (AWC) is the voice of North American wood products manufacturing, representing over 75 percent of an industry that provides approximately 400,000 men and women in the United States with family-wage jobs. AWC members make products that are essential to everyday life from a renewable resource that absorbs and sequesters carbon. Staff experts develop state-of-the-art engineering data, technology, and standards for wood products to assure their safe and efficient design, as well as provide information on wood design, green building, and environmental regulations. AWC also advocates for balanced government policies that affect wood products.

www.awc.org | @woodcouncil