October - December, 2010
Renewable Energy
Utilities hoping to capitalize on a 2008 renewable energy mandate are eyeing the Missouri Ozarks for plants that would burn wood waste to generate electricity.
A proposal by ProEnergy Services of Sedalia to build a 20-megawatt woody biomass plant in Salem has divided a community that already relies heavily on the dense forests to put food on the table and money in the bank. City elected leaders unanimously rejected the proposal on Monday after nearly one year of courtship by the utility.
Project supporters say the wood-energy plant would help the economy and use logging byproducts that otherwise would go to waste. Opponents say the plant would kill off existing wood products companies while generating more pollution than supporters realize.
ProEnergy officials say they plan to seek out other interested Ozark communities.
Source: Fox4 News