New Jersey could power over
one million homes from waste by 2020
Biomass has potential to help New Jersey diversify
its energy sources, reduce reliance on foreign oil and decrease its use of
power generated by carbon dioxide-emitting fossil fuels. That’s
the conclusion of a report commissioned by the New Jersey Board of Public
Utilities (NJBPU) and completed by the Rutgers New Jersey Agricultural
Experiment Station.
Biomass includes such materials as certain agricultural crops; food processing
residues; wood waste; waste oils, fats and greases; recycled materials; and
landfill gas. The report assesses the characteristics and quantity of commercially
viable biomass resources and technologies. It
concludes that 65 percent of the estimated 8.2 million dry tons of biomass
New Jersey produces annually could be leveraged to help meet New Jersey’s
electricity or transportation fuels needs. Biomass could deliver up to 1,100
MW of power or the equivalent of enough power for nearly 1 million homes
for one year — or the biomass resources could be used to produce about
300 million gallons of fuel for transportation. Most of the biomass resource,
says the report, is in the central and northeastern part of the state. It
also notes that farms and forests are important potential sources of biomass. For
the study, Rutgers developed a one-of-a-kind “Bioenergy Calculator” that
can compute the potential for generating biopower and biofuel from existing
biomass in New Jersey for 2007, 2010, 2015 and 2020. Data can be sorted and
compared based on parameters such as existing technologies and county location.
“Helping more biofuels companies locate in New Jersey can only spur
the market for our farmers’ crops and agricultural waste through increased
demand for feedstocks,” said New Jersey agriculture secretary Charles
M. Kuperus.
The report has recommendations to help New Jersey develop policies that will
promote and support the development of biomass in the state.
The report is available at www.njaes.rutgers.edu/bioenergy. |
