1. Home
  2. News
  3. Week of Mar. 10-16, 2009
  4. Senators Want to Include Waste-to-Energy in Renewable Electricity Standard

Senators Want to Include Waste-to-Energy in Renewable Electricity Standard

Date: March 6, 2009

Source: News Room

Thirteen senators are endorsing a proposal to add energy derived from burning waste to the list of resources that count toward meeting a nationwide renewable electricity standard. In a March 3 letter to the chairman and ranking member of the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee, the members say waste-to-energy reduces trash levels nationwide while offsetting greenhouse gas emissions. "As our nation's energy needs grow and we continue to discern how best to meet them, we think it is important to take an inclusive view of the ways in which already-existing technologies can be used to reduce our dependence on fossil fuels," the letter states. The letter notes that 87 waste-to-energy facilities nationwide manage 29 million tons of household trash yearly, with an electric capacity of 2,700 megawatts.

Energy and Natural Resources Chairman Jeff Bingaman (D-N.M.) submitted a draft RES bill that requires power companies to draw 16 percent of their electricity from renewable sources by 2019, and 20 percent by 2021 and thereafter, but does not include waste-to-energy among the sources that qualify.

The lawmakers who signed the letter are: Sens. Joe Lieberman (I-Conn.), Chris Dodd (D-Conn.), Daniel Akaka (D-Hawaii), Ben Cardin (D-Md.), Robert Casey (D-Pa.), Ron Wyden (D-Ore.), Bill Nelson (D-Fla.), Charles Schumer (D-N.Y.), Robert Menendez (D-N.J.), Frank Lautenberg (D-N.J.), Arlen Specter (R-Pa.), Kirsten Gillibrand (D-N.Y.) and Susan Collins (R-Maine).

(Copy of the letter to Sen. Jeff Bingaman)

Industry News & Events

Sign up to receive our free Weekly News Bulletin