Pa.'s Biomass Burners Harm Air Quality Near Schools, Study Shows

Susan Phillips

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Susan Phillips tells stories about the consequences of political decisions on people's every day lives. She has worked as a reporter for WHYY since 2004. Susan's coverage of the 2008 Presidential election resulted in a story on the front page of the New York Times. In 2010 she traveled to Haiti to cover the earthquake. That same year she produced an award-winning series on Pennsylvania's natural gas rush called "The Shale Game." She received a 2013 Alfred I. duPont-Columbia University Journalism Award for her work covering natural gas drilling in Pennsylvania. She has also won several Edward R. Murrow awards for her work with StateImpact. In 2013/14 she spent a year at MIT as a Knight Science Journalism Fellow. She has also been a Metcalf Fellow, an MBL Logan Science Journalism Fellow and reported from Marrakech on the 2016 climate talks as an International Reporting Project Fellow. A graduate of Columbia School of Journalism, she earned her Bachelor's degree in International Relations from George Washington University.

December 14, 2012 | 5:36 PM

Cut wood lies in a pile at a bioenergy plant in Germany.

Biomass refers to any kind of organic material that is burned for energy. Wood, garbage, crops, manure and landfill gas are all examples of biomass fuel. Proponents say biomass is renewable because more trees and crops can be planted, and humans will never stop producing garbage.
But a new report out this week by the Partnership for Policy Integrity, and funded by the Heinz Foundation, says burning biomass creates harmful air pollution. The report criticizes Pennsylvania’s support for biomass burners to power schools. The Partnerships director, Mary Booth, conducted the study.
“Despite the popular image of wood-burning biomass as ‘clean’ and ‘green,’” said Booth in a release, “these burners emit far more pollution, including particulate matter, carbon monoxide, and ozone-forming nitrogen oxides, than oil and gas burners.”
The study shows that some of these biomass burners are in areas that do not meet federal air quality standards. Both federal and state grants and loans targeted for renewable energy helped fund those facilities.