Congress Gets F in Energy 101 (Part 2)

Renewable Energy World has a current article on the value of the "heat" component CHP (combined heat and power) from biomass energy.

The article has the following graph, illustrating the greenhouse gas benefits of the "heat" CHP component, like with using biogas for industrial product drying. Note the highest level of greenhouse gas benefits is the 3rd bar -- the scenario with the highest "heat use" component.



But, lets look at how Congress views the "heat" component of CHP in providing economic incentives under the Section 45 Tax Credit to promote biomass energy:

(1) If a biomass gasification project used 100% of the biogas for the production of electricity ONLY, the project qualifies for a 30% investment tax credit towards the capital costs.

(2) If the same above project was for CHP, the tax credit is reduced to 10%.

(3) If the project uses 100% of the biogas for an industrial processes "heat" requirement, the project's tax credit would be ZERO!