The purpose of this Act is to promote the public health and welfare, and to aid in the prevention of catastrophic climate change by accounting for carbon dioxide emissions from power plants that use combustion or pyrolization, including combustion or pyrolization of biomass and municipal waste, to generate electricity. Carbon dioxide is the most prevalent greenhouse gas and has known impacts on the climate and significant and costly negative effects on human health and the environment.

Findings:

Congress seeks to enact climate change legislation to address the threat to the public health, welfare and the environment and to provide for energy security and jobs and it is in the best interest of the public health and the environment to limit the amount of carbon dioxide emissions from all power plants, including those that use combustion or pyrolization of biomass to produce electricity.

All combustion and pyrolization used to generate electricity emits carbon dioxide to the atmosphere, and carbon dioxide in the atmosphere contributes to climate change.

The Renewable Portfolio Standards adopted by twenty-six states in the United States do not limit or control carbon dioxide from sources that generate electricity by combustion or pyrolization of renewable energy resources.

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency classifies the combustion and pyrolization of various materials such as wood, municipal waste and tires as "biomass" and does not limit, account for, or control carbon dioxide emissions from such biomass power plants.

Testimony before the U.S. Senate on July 7, 2009 by the Natural Resources Defense Council showed that carbon dioxide from the combustion and pyrolization of biomass is unaccounted for by regulation and "cap and trade" programs, including proposed federal "cap and trade" legislation, including the H.R. 2454, passed by the U.S. House of Representatives on June 24, 2009, as documented by a July 24, 2009 letter from Representative Waxman and Representative Peterson to House Speaker Pelosi. The NRDC testimony set forth the "biomass loophole" in current and proposed carbon emission control programs.

The failure to fix the biomass loophole accounting error under current U.S.EPA regulatory programs and "cap and trade" legislation will result in annual unaccounted for emissions of about 700,000,000 tons of carbon dioxide, preventing the U.S. from meeting emission reduction targets.

It is enacted as follows:

1. When renewable electricity is generated using incineration or pyrolization, the Secretary shall issue renewable energy credits to generators of this renewable electricity based on the reduction in carbon dioxide emissions as compared to the production of electricity from burning coal.

The Secretary shall annually calculate the number of renewable energy credits for a generator of electric energy from renewable energy producing electricity by incineration or pyrolization according to the following formula:

(a) determine the number of megawatt hours of renewable energy generated using incineration or pyrolization.

(b) multiply the number of megawatt hours of renewable energy generated using incineration or pyrolization as determined in (a) by the percent reduction in carbon dioxide emissions per megawatt hour of electricity generated by using incineration or pyrolization as compared to the average carbon dioxide emissions per megawatt hour of electricity of the coal burning electrical power plants in the state in which the generating plant is located [henceforth referred to as the "index coal plant"] using data reported to U.S. Environmental Protection Agency pursuant to 40 CFR Part 60 and Part 71. The following formula shall apply to determine the number of renewable energy credits:

2. If the carbon dioxide emissions per megawatt hour emitted by the generator of electric energy from renewable energy [generating plant] that uses combustion or pyrolization exceed the average carbon dioxide emissions per megawatt hour of all coal burning plants in the state where the generating plant is located [index coal plant], then no renewable energy credit will be awarded that year to the renewable energy generator using combustion or pyrolization.

3. If the carbon dioxide emissions per megawatt hour from the generator of electric energy from renewable energy [generating plant] are less than the emissions per megawatt hour of the index coal plant in the state then renewable energy credits will be awarded in proportion to the reduction of carbon dioxide by the generator of electric energy from renewable energy [generating plant] using combustion or pyrolization.

4. For example, if the biomass plant is 50 MW and has an operating capacity of 90%, then the plant would have 394,200 MWH which would receive REC credit. If the plant had 20% less than the average coal plant in that state or on that regional grid, index coal plant in the formula, (as measured as tons of C02/MWH) then the biomass plant would receive 78,840 REC whereas a solar installation with the same power output would receive the full credit for 394,200 MWH which would be 394,200 REC.

5. For purposes of this section, carbon dioxide emissions of the generator of electric energy from renewable energy shall be the smokestack carbon dioxide emissions of such generator.

6. The U.S. EPA shall amend its E-GRID reporting requirements to require generators of electricity using biomass combustion to report the actual carbon dioxide emissions from the smokestacks of such generators.

The typical 50 MW biomass combustion power generation plant would produce 394000 MW/yr operating at 90% capacity. The following is a comparison of installations of similar output per year.