Fundamental Purpose, Values
Our mission is to expand the use of combustible bioenergy for petroleum product replacement in the Finger Lakes; to save money for our members; to improve the soil and the services it provides; to preserve the rural agricultural aspect of the countryside; and to change consumers into producers.
A Sustainable and Practical Approach to Bioenergy
We define bioenergy as the word used for energy associated with biomass (we are concerned with hay or wood but any vegetable matter and its derivatives can be in that category). Bioenergy contains solar energy (stored as chemical energy) which can then be used for human energy: heat, transportation, or electricity.
We think bioenergy can be considered a renewable energy resource only if it is based on long term sustainable biomass practices that balance the needs of agriculture, the environmental needs of our planet, and the economic and social needs of people’s lives.
Bioenergy can be used most efficiently if handling, transport, and processing are minimized. We think direct local combustion meets these requirements. The type of stove or boiler used is extremely important. Both clean air regulations to decrease pollution and research incentives to increase efficiency help make better technologies. More complete combustion means less pollutants going up the stack.
Bioenergy is best used locally on a small scale. This allows community energy independence to be achieved by methods that fit the community allowing locally unique synergies to develop.
Bioenergy is not a good fit for all locations. All energy sources have both advantages and disadvantages. We believe the key is to use decentralized energy wherever possible and to choose the appropriate energy source for the application.
Bioenergy is a good option for the northeastern United States where rainfall, forests, and abandoned fields are plentiful. Type of biomass used should match scale of application. Generally it is larger scale commercial systems that can use the lower quality biomass fuels (such a straw, agricultural waste, wood chips) and smaller scale residential systems that need more premium homogenous characteristics of wood pellets.
Biomass for combustion fits well into rural areas which are more familiar with its long term, traditional use. Rural areas do not have the pipeline infrastructure for natural gas and are usually serviced by more expensive truck delivered fuel oil and propane making biomass more attractive. Biomass fits the rural economy and require less up-front investment to use and less capital to produce than most other alternative energies. Production is not as labor-efficient on a small scale but leveraged advantages to the community make up for this.
Lastly, the greatest sustainability is still achieved by decreasing up-front need for energy, both through producer and consumer applied efficiencies, and by increasing awareness that profligate use of energy affects the world we live in.
(Recommended reading is “The Handbook of Biomass Combustion and Co-firing” edited by Sjaak van Loo and Jaap Koppejan from which some of this discussion was extracted).
