* . *
  • About
  • Advertise
  • Privacy & Policy
  • Contact
Thursday, July 24, 2025
Earth-News
  • Home
  • Business
  • Entertainment
    Black Box Players presents ‘The Three Musketeers’ – CBS 19 News

    Experience the Adventure: Black Box Players Bring ‘The Three Musketeers’ to Life!

    AP Entertainment SummaryBrief at 1:51 p.m. EDT – Channel 3000

    Entertainment Highlights: Key Updates You Can’t Miss

    ‘Devil Wears Prada 2’ casts Anne Hathaway’s love interest replacing Adrian Grenier’s Nate – Entertainment Weekly

    Devil Wears Prada 2′ Casts New Love Interest for Anne Hathaway, Replacing Adrian Grenier’s Nate

    12 ‘Late Show’ Moments Proving Stephen Colbert Can’t Be Replaced – The Mountaineer

    12 Unforgettable ‘Late Show’ Moments That Prove Stephen Colbert Is Truly One of a Kind

    Canes owner Tom Dundon’s real estate firm eyes entertainment complex near RDU – The Business Journals

    Canes Owner Tom Dundon’s Real Estate Firm Unveils Plans for Thrilling New Entertainment Complex Near RDU

    Inspired Entertainment, Inc.’s (NASDAQ:INSE) Price Is Right But Growth Is Lacking After Shares Rocket 29% – simplywall.st

    Inspired Entertainment Soars 29% but Growth Momentum Falls Short

  • General
  • Health
  • News

    Cracking the Code: Why China’s Economic Challenges Aren’t Shaking Markets, Unlike America’s” – Bloomberg

    Trump’s Narrow Window to Spread the Truth About Harris

    Trump’s Narrow Window to Spread the Truth About Harris

    Israel-Gaza war live updates: Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh assassinated in Iran, group says

    Israel-Gaza war live updates: Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh assassinated in Iran, group says

    PAP Boss to Niger Delta Youths, Stay Away from the Protest

    PAP Boss to Niger Delta Youths, Stay Away from the Protest

    Court Restricts Protests In Lagos To Freedom, Peace Park

    Court Restricts Protests In Lagos To Freedom, Peace Park

    Fans React to Jazz Jennings’ Inspiring Weight Loss Journey

    Fans React to Jazz Jennings’ Inspiring Weight Loss Journey

    Trending Tags

    • Trump Inauguration
    • United Stated
    • White House
    • Market Stories
    • Election Results
  • Science
  • Sports
  • Technology
    Behind the Screens: The Impact of Technology on Real Estate – TRREB

    Behind the Screens: How Technology is Transforming the Future of Real Estate

    Sustainserv and Palau Announce Technology Partnership to Leverage Innovative AI Platform to Advance Sustainability Reporting – Business Wire

    Sustainserv and Palau Team Up to Transform Sustainability Reporting with Breakthrough AI Technology

    Morgan Adamski Joins PwC in Newly Created Cyber, Data & Technology Risk Division – HSToday

    Morgan Adamski Leads the Charge in PwC’s Cutting-Edge Cyber, Data & Technology Risk Division

    Transformative technology, support for food entrepreneurs spotlighted – University of Hawaii System

    How Cutting-Edge Technology and Strong Support Are Revolutionizing Food Entrepreneurs’ Success

    Cold Weather Alloy Opens New Possibilities for Space Technology – Universe Today

    Revolutionary Cold Weather Alloy Unlocks New Frontiers in Space Technology

    Defence Holdings PLC Transitions from Esports to Pioneering Defence Technology

    Trending Tags

    • Nintendo Switch
    • CES 2017
    • Playstation 4 Pro
    • Mark Zuckerberg
No Result
View All Result
  • Home
  • Business
  • Entertainment
    Black Box Players presents ‘The Three Musketeers’ – CBS 19 News

    Experience the Adventure: Black Box Players Bring ‘The Three Musketeers’ to Life!

    AP Entertainment SummaryBrief at 1:51 p.m. EDT – Channel 3000

    Entertainment Highlights: Key Updates You Can’t Miss

    ‘Devil Wears Prada 2’ casts Anne Hathaway’s love interest replacing Adrian Grenier’s Nate – Entertainment Weekly

    Devil Wears Prada 2′ Casts New Love Interest for Anne Hathaway, Replacing Adrian Grenier’s Nate

    12 ‘Late Show’ Moments Proving Stephen Colbert Can’t Be Replaced – The Mountaineer

    12 Unforgettable ‘Late Show’ Moments That Prove Stephen Colbert Is Truly One of a Kind

    Canes owner Tom Dundon’s real estate firm eyes entertainment complex near RDU – The Business Journals

    Canes Owner Tom Dundon’s Real Estate Firm Unveils Plans for Thrilling New Entertainment Complex Near RDU

    Inspired Entertainment, Inc.’s (NASDAQ:INSE) Price Is Right But Growth Is Lacking After Shares Rocket 29% – simplywall.st

    Inspired Entertainment Soars 29% but Growth Momentum Falls Short

  • General
  • Health
  • News

    Cracking the Code: Why China’s Economic Challenges Aren’t Shaking Markets, Unlike America’s” – Bloomberg

    Trump’s Narrow Window to Spread the Truth About Harris

    Trump’s Narrow Window to Spread the Truth About Harris

    Israel-Gaza war live updates: Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh assassinated in Iran, group says

    Israel-Gaza war live updates: Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh assassinated in Iran, group says

    PAP Boss to Niger Delta Youths, Stay Away from the Protest

    PAP Boss to Niger Delta Youths, Stay Away from the Protest

    Court Restricts Protests In Lagos To Freedom, Peace Park

    Court Restricts Protests In Lagos To Freedom, Peace Park

    Fans React to Jazz Jennings’ Inspiring Weight Loss Journey

    Fans React to Jazz Jennings’ Inspiring Weight Loss Journey

    Trending Tags

    • Trump Inauguration
    • United Stated
    • White House
    • Market Stories
    • Election Results
  • Science
  • Sports
  • Technology
    Behind the Screens: The Impact of Technology on Real Estate – TRREB

    Behind the Screens: How Technology is Transforming the Future of Real Estate

    Sustainserv and Palau Announce Technology Partnership to Leverage Innovative AI Platform to Advance Sustainability Reporting – Business Wire

    Sustainserv and Palau Team Up to Transform Sustainability Reporting with Breakthrough AI Technology

    Morgan Adamski Joins PwC in Newly Created Cyber, Data & Technology Risk Division – HSToday

    Morgan Adamski Leads the Charge in PwC’s Cutting-Edge Cyber, Data & Technology Risk Division

    Transformative technology, support for food entrepreneurs spotlighted – University of Hawaii System

    How Cutting-Edge Technology and Strong Support Are Revolutionizing Food Entrepreneurs’ Success

    Cold Weather Alloy Opens New Possibilities for Space Technology – Universe Today

    Revolutionary Cold Weather Alloy Unlocks New Frontiers in Space Technology

    Defence Holdings PLC Transitions from Esports to Pioneering Defence Technology

    Trending Tags

    • Nintendo Switch
    • CES 2017
    • Playstation 4 Pro
    • Mark Zuckerberg
No Result
View All Result
Earth-News
No Result
View All Result
Home General

A 59-year-old widow has been forced to use a breathing tube and skyrocketing demand for wood pellets in the EU might be to blame

July 27, 2024
in General
A 59-year-old widow has been forced to use a breathing tube and skyrocketing demand for wood pellets in the EU might be to blame
Share on FacebookShare on Twitter

This southern Mississippi town’s expansive wood pellet plant was so close to Shelia Mae Dobbins’ home that she sometimes heard company loudspeakers. She says industrial residues coated her truck and she no longer enjoys spending time in the air outdoors.

Dobbins feels her life — and health — were better before 2016, when United Kingdom energy giant Drax opened a facility able to compress 450,000 tons of wood chips annually in the majority Black town of Gloster, Mississippi. To her, it’s no coincidence federal regulators find residents are exposed to unwanted air particles and they experience asthma more than most of the country.

Her asthma and diabetes were once under control, but since a 2017 diagnosis of heart and lung disease, Dobbins has frequently lived at the end of a breathing tube connected to an oxygen cannister.

“Something is going on. And it’s all around the plant,” said the 59-year-old widow who raised two children here. “Nobody asked us could they bring that plant there.”

Wood pellet production skyrocketed across the U.S. South. It helped feed demand in the European Union for renewable energy, as those coutries sought to replace fossil fuels such as coal. But many residents near plants — often African Americans in poor, rural swaths — find the process left their air dustier and people sicker.

Billions of dollars are available for these projects under President Joe Biden’s signature law combating climate change. The administration is weighing whether to open up tax credits for companies to burn wood pellets for energy.

As producers expand west, environmentalists want the government to stop incentivizing what they call a misguided attempt to curb carbon emissions that pollute communities of color while presently warming the atmosphere.

Despite hefty pollution fines against industry players and one major producer’s recent bankruptcy, supporters say the multibillion-dollar market is experiencing growing pains. In wood pellets, they see an innovative long-term solution to the climate crisis that brings revenue necessary for forest owners to maintain plantations.

Biomass boom

After the European Union classified biomass as renewable energy in 2009, the Southeast’s annual wood pellet capacity increased from about 300,000 tons to more than 7.3 million tons by 2017, according to research led by a University of Missouri team.

Federal energy statistics show about three dozen southern wood pellet manufacturing facilities account for nearly 80% of annual U.S. capacity. Most pellets are used for commercial-scale energy overseas.

The market brought hope for revitalization to small, disadvantaged communities. But interviews with residents of towns with large Black populations, from Gaston, North Carolina, to Uniontown, Alabama, surfaced complaints of truck traffic, air pollution and noise from pellet plants.

Gloster has become the poster child for such tensions. In 2020, Mississippi’s environmental agency fined Drax $2.5 million for violating air emissions limits. Gloster is exposed to more particulate matter than much of the U.S. and adults have higher asthma rates than 80% of the country, according to an Environmental Protection Agency mapping tool. Median household income is about $22,000; the poverty rate is triple the national level.

Spokesperson Michelli Martin said Drax in 2021 installed pollution controls, including incinerators to decrease carbon emissions. An environmental consulting firm found “no adverse effects to human health” and that “no modeled pollutant from the facility exceeded” acceptable levels, Martin said.

The company recently committed to annual town halls and announced a $250,000 Gloster Community Fund to “improve quality of life.”

But critics aren’t swayed by showings of corporate goodwill they say don’t account for poor air. Krystal Martin, of the Greater Greener Gloster Project, returned to her hometown after her 75-year-old mother was diagnosed with lung and heart problems.

“You don’t really know you’re dealing with air pollution until most people have breathed and inhaled it for so long that they end up sick,” she said.

Brown University assistant epidemiology professor Erica Walker is studying health impacts of industrial pollutants on Gloster residents. Walker said fine particulate matter can travel deep into lungs and reach the bloodstream.

“It can also circulate to other parts of our body, leading to body-wide inflammation,” she said.

Subsidies for an upstart industry

Environmentalists are calling on Biden to stop aiding an industry they believe runs counter to his green energy goals. At the annual United Nations climate conference, The Dogwood Alliance urged attendees to phase out wood pellets.

Enviva — the world’s largest wood pellet producer — had already received subsidies through the 2018 farm bill signed by former President Donald Trump, according to Sheila Korth, a former policy analyst with nonpartisan watchdog Taxpayers for Common Sense.

But Korth said the Biden-era Inflation Reduction Act made tax credits available to companies that create pellets for countries in Europe and Asia.

Elizabeth Woodworth, interim executive director of the US Industrial Pellet Association, said the money is a small part of lRA allocations and noted emerging technologies require government subsidies. The industry argues that replanting of trees will eventually absorb carbon produced by burning pellets.

“We need every single technology we can get our hands on to mitigate climate change,” Woodworth said. “Bioenergy is a part of that.”

Scientific studies have found firing wood pellets puts more carbon immediately into the atmosphere than coal. Pollution from biomass-based facilities is nearly three times higher than that of other energy sectors, according to a 2023 paper in the journal Renewable Energy.

In a 2018 letter, hundreds of scientists warned the EU that the “additional carbon load” from burning wood pellets means “permanent damages” including glacial melting.

Expansion plans and more burning?

Drax — with plants operating in Alabama, Arkansas, Louisiana and Mississippi — is heading west.

The corporation signed an agreement in February with Golden State Natural Resources to identify biomass from California’s forests. The public-private venture hopes to build two plants by year’s end and produce up to 1 million tons of wood pellets annually. Another Drax project in Washington would produce 500,000 tons a year.

The Natural Resources Defense Council’s Rita Frost, who fought plants in the South, said the deal will endanger California’s low-income Latino communities much like she says the industry threatened Black southern towns.

“It’s an environmental justice problem that should not be repeated in California,” Frost said.

Biomass, including wood pellets, accounted for less than 5% of U.S. primary energy consumption in 2022, according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration.

But a key federal decision could draw more companies into pellet combustion — not just production.

The White House is looking into whether biomass facilities should receive tax credits meant for zero-emission electricity generators. The Treasury Department is weighing whether biomass’ potential long-term carbon neutrality is sufficient even if its production increases emissions in the short term.

Spokesperson Michael Martinez said they are “carefully considering public comments” and “working to issue final rules that will increase energy security and clean energy supply as effectively as possible.”

Some environmentalists doubt the energy alternative is ultimately carbon neutral. The Southern Environmental Law Center fears the credits could be the incentive needed for the U.S. to join Europe in scaling up the burning of pellets.

“The threat here is really the growth of biomass energy production in the U.S. itself,” said senior attorney Heather Hillaker. “Which obviously will add to the total carbon and climate harms of this industry globally.”

___

Pollard reported from Columbia, South Carolina. Watson reported from San Diego. Contributing were video journalist Terry Chea from San Francisco and reporter Matthew Daly from Washington, D.C.

Recommended Newsletter: CEO Daily provides key context for the news leaders need to know from across the world of business. Every weekday morning, more than 125,000 readers trust CEO Daily for insights about–and from inside–the C-suite. Subscribe Now.

>>> Read full article>>>
Copyright for syndicated content belongs to the linked Source : Fortune – https://fortune.com/2024/07/26/drax-wood-pellets-renewable-eu-pollution/

Previous Post

Big bucks for college athletes: settlement payouts to range from dollars to millions

Next Post

从奧運冠軍到宣教犧牲:李愛銳的百年遺產

Threat reduction must be coupled with targeted recovery programmes to conserve global bird diversity – Nature

Threat reduction must be coupled with targeted recovery programmes to conserve global bird diversity – Nature

July 24, 2025
Three Recent Texas Science Graduates Receive Fulbright U.S. Student Awards – College of Natural Sciences

Three Texas Science Graduates Honored with Prestigious Fulbright U.S. Student Awards

July 24, 2025
An Extra Sense May Connect Gut Bacteria With Our Brain – ScienceAlert

An Extra Sense May Connect Gut Bacteria With Our Brain – ScienceAlert

July 24, 2025
Nutrition and lifestyle hold the key to overcoming obesity risk – The Hans India

Unlock the Secret to Beating Obesity: How Nutrition and Lifestyle Transform Your Health

July 24, 2025
He ‘found his place in the world’ through football. Then came 15 years of suffering – The New York Times

From Football Dreams to 15 Years of Unyielding Struggle: One Man’s Journey to Finding His Place in the World

July 24, 2025
How Nuclear Fusion Could Revive This State’s Startup Economy – Inc.com

How Nuclear Fusion Could Spark a Revival in This State’s Startup Scene

July 24, 2025
Hollywood’s writers won the strike but lost the work – Spectrum News

Hollywood Writers Win Strike Victory but Confront New Challenges Ahead

July 24, 2025
Health For All reminds Brazos Valley of healthy habits, resources during summer months – KBTX News 3

Stay Healthy This Summer: Must-Know Tips and Resources for Brazos Valley Residents

July 24, 2025
Democrat Roy Cooper expected to run for Senate from North Carolina, sources tell CNN – CNN

Democrat Roy Cooper Launches Thrilling Campaign for North Carolina Senate Seat

July 24, 2025
Behind the Screens: The Impact of Technology on Real Estate – TRREB

Behind the Screens: How Technology is Transforming the Future of Real Estate

July 24, 2025

Categories

Archives

July 2025
MTWTFSS
 123456
78910111213
14151617181920
21222324252627
28293031 
« Jun    
Earth-News.info

The Earth News is an independent English-language daily published Website from all around the World News

Browse by Category

  • Business (20,132)
  • Ecology (737)
  • Economy (760)
  • Entertainment (21,642)
  • General (16,078)
  • Health (9,798)
  • Lifestyle (768)
  • News (22,149)
  • People (762)
  • Politics (769)
  • Science (15,976)
  • Sports (21,257)
  • Technology (15,742)
  • World (743)

Recent News

Threat reduction must be coupled with targeted recovery programmes to conserve global bird diversity – Nature

Threat reduction must be coupled with targeted recovery programmes to conserve global bird diversity – Nature

July 24, 2025
Three Recent Texas Science Graduates Receive Fulbright U.S. Student Awards – College of Natural Sciences

Three Texas Science Graduates Honored with Prestigious Fulbright U.S. Student Awards

July 24, 2025
  • About
  • Advertise
  • Privacy & Policy
  • Contact

© 2023 earth-news.info

No Result
View All Result

© 2023 earth-news.info

No Result
View All Result

© 2023 earth-news.info

Go to mobile version