Environmental groups are trying to close down PGE’s coal based power plant in Eastern Oregon’s town of Boardman. The power plant is a major polluter but also plays an important role for power production in the region. It appeared that the plant would be shut down by 2014 but new advances in Biomass production may keep the plant open longer to wait for testing to be completed. PGE is hoping this new Biomass technology will provide a clean and renewable alternative to coal and keep the plant open for many years to come.
After reading through this article I could tell the technology is still very new and in its early stages of development. I did some additional research and these processes are just started to be implemented in other power plants around the world but nothing on a large scale. The entrepreneurs that are bringing these ideas to PGE are very innovative but still have some work to do. The research firm estimates that the biomass material will be almost four times the cost of coal. The biomass production process can be perfected and mass production would lower costs but there is still a significant price gap.
The technology may be several years away from being implemented but it is great to see researchers and corporations looking into the feasibility of this technology. There is a lot of planning and logistics that have to be coordinated for this to work.
This idea seems like a good one at first but it does raise come concerns. Where would all this biomass be coming from? Would the costs and environmental impact associated with transporting and sorting these materials offset potential benefits?
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