From the American Natural Gas Alliance
Michigan-based municipal utility Traverse City Light & Power has put off plans to replace a coal-fired power plant with a biomass project, and is instead eyeing plans to build a natural gas-fueled plant Bloomberg reports .
The original plans called for the facility to burn wood (biomass) to help Traverse City Light & Power meet a goal of supplying 30 percent of their electricity requirements with renewable energy by 2020. The utility’s board will revisit those plans in July to discuss the shift in direction and to re- evaluate its strategic goals, the Traverse City Record- Eagle reports .
“We’ve listened to many of our ratepayers tell us they don’t know enough about biomass and some have suggested they are more comfortable with natural gas as a power generation resource,” said Chairman Mike Coco. A utility-commissioned survey released in April 2010 revealed that more than 53 percent of local resident and business respondents supported the natural gas project.
Natural gas is a clean and highly efficient form of energy. It is twice as clean as coal when it comes to carbon emissions. It also produces 80 percent fewer NOx emissions than coal power and virtually no sulfur dioxide, mercury or particulate pollution. In fact, a study released last week by MIT, titled “The Future of Natural Gas” suggests that by decommissioning older, less efficient coal plants, the U.S. can quickly and substantially reduce the amount of carbon and other harmful pollutants from entering the atmosphere.
Natural gas also is extremely reliable and provides the essential back-up critical for renewables in electric power production – key to helping Michigan meet its renewable portfolio standard, which requires utilities to derive 10 percent of their power from renewable energy sources by 2015.
Our nation’s vast domestic supplies of natural gas—including new findings in Michigan –significantly change the energy game in the U.S. Last June, the Potential Gas Committee reported the U.S. has 35 percent more recoverable natural gas than thought before. That’s the highest resource total ever reported by the organization in its 44 years. Our nation’s abundance of shale gas also continues to be a major player in helping keep residential rates for consumers affordable.
Like Traverse City Light & Power, more and more utilities are looking to natural gas as a clean, abundant and reliable choice to meet our nation’s energy needs. Natural gas is a smart choice. It’s also the natural choice for utilities across the country – as they stand on the front lines of reducing our environmental footprint and progressing our clean-energy future.
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