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What Is Switching?Switch 1: Switching Power – Burningbiomass for heat and bioelectricityAt present, the International Energy Authority (IEA) reportsthat 10.1% of global primary energy comes from biomass,mostly wood, dung and straw burned for traditional cookingand heating. However, they predict this amount could increaseto 25% by 2030, 212 a massive upswing reflecting the newcommercial race to burn biomass to generate electricity.Low Hanging FruitIn a few short years, the electricity industry has embracedbiomass burning as a strategy to not only cut costs but also tocapture carbon credits and meet renewable energy targets.Biomass power plants now exist in over 50 countries aroundthe world and supply a growing share of electricity. Globally,an estimated 54 GW of biomass power capacity was in placeby the end of 2009. 213 In many ways, burning biomass is thelow hanging fruit of the renewable energy world. It requireslittle or no new technology and can be easily implemented inexisting industrial facilities by switching feedstock frommineral oils to vegetable oils, or from coal to wood pellets(compacted sawdust). As such, national and regionalauthorities often target biomass burning as a simple‘transitional’ form of supposedly renewable energy. Inparticular, the practice of co-firing wood in existing coalpower plants is becoming widely practiced. This is donesimply by mixing biomass with coal in the burning chambersof power plants that in turn drive steam turbines.Biomass Burning in the USAThe United States generates over one third of all biomasselectricity – making it the largest producer of biomasspower in the world. 214 As of October 2010, the grassrootsgroup Energy Justice Network had mapped over 540industrial power facilities burning biomass in the U.S.,with a further 146 slated to be built. 215 Eighty biomasspower plants connected to the electrical grid in 20 U.S.states currently generate about 10GW of power, 216 whichis half of all U.S. “renewable energy” in an industry worth$1 billion. 217 Since 2000, biomass generation on theelectrical grid has risen 25% to about 2,500 megawatts,according to the Biomass Power Association. 218Biomass Power in the SouthAccording to REN21 (Renewable Energy Policy Network forthe 21st century), biomass power has also grown significantlyin the global South, particularly in the BRICS countries(Brazil, India, China and South Africa). Other countries withbioelectricity production include Costa Rica, Mexico,Tanzania, Thailand, and Uruguay. China’s share of biomasspower in 2009 was 3.2 GW and the country plans to produceup to 30 GW by 2020. India is aiming for 1.7 GW of capacityby 2012. Brazil has over 4.8 GW of biomass electricity, almostentirely produced from sugarcane bagasse at sugar mills. 219Illustration: theBeehive CollectiveCounting the Costs of BiomassElectricity I: Gobbling fields and forestsThe most straightforward impact of new biomass powerfacilities is the increased requirements for biomass, chieflywood, required 24 hours a day to keep the turbines turning.According to a report on biomass availability prepared by theMassachusetts Department of Environmental Resources,13,000 tonnes of green biomass are required to generate onemegawatt of biomass power for one year. 220 As U.S. activistJosh Schlossberg puts it, these facilities are “gaping mouthswaiting for a constant supply of forest.” 221The world’s largest wood-burning biomass power station, thePrenergy plant at Port Talbot in Wales (currently underconstruction), aims to import over 3 billion tons of woodchipsfrom the U.S., Canada, South America and Eastern Europe.According to watchdog Biofuelwatch, the land area needed togrow this much biomass could be as large as one half-millionhectares – ensuring the deforestation of an area three times thesize of Liechtenstein every year. 222ETC Group 42 www.etcgroup.org