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Biomass Energy in New Hampshire: Burning Organic Matter for Heat and Electricity

Keith Shields; NHPR

Many New Hampshire households use wood pellet stoves for heat, but now towns, schools, and businesses are turning to biomass to generate heat and electricity. But questions abound about the sustainability, and carbon output, of this alternative energy source.  

GUESTS:

  • John Gunn - Researcher and assistant professor at UNH in forest management, and was a senior program leader at the Manomet Center for Conservation Sciences. 
  • Charlie Niebling - A partner with Innovative Natural Resource Solutions, which assists New Hampshire businesses, non-profits, and government clients in natural resource management.  
  • John Upton - Senior science writer at Climate Central, with more than a decade of international reporting experience in global climate policy, oceans research, and wood energy. 
  • Richard Roy - Forester in charge of biomass fuel at Schiller Station, in Portsmouth. 

Read more about biomass energy in New Hampshire, and nationally:

The Northern Forest Center released a comprehensive explanation of a study John Gunn participated in, in their article, "Wood Pellet Heat Reduces Carbon Emissions By More Than Half."

The New Hampshire Business Review dove into"The Sustainable Truth About Biomass."

Biomass Magazinecovered the 9th anniversary of Northern Wood Power, the wood burning plant run by Eversource out of Schiller Station, in Portsmouth. 

John Upton discussed the potential harm of industrial wood burning in "New EU Wood Energy Rules Threaten Climate, Forest."

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