From the time a power purchase agreement is signed to the point when the project is built and producing energy is on average 36 to 48 months.
 
When will the US adopt a national renewable energy portfolio standard (RPS)?

We are cautiously optimistic that there will be a National RPS sometime in 2009.  All the leading Presidential candidates have promised to reduce greenhouse gases by mandating the use of renewable energy.  Currently 24 states have adopted such a policy.
 
Why are BG&E’s projects considered "carbon neutral"?

All combustion of biomass, whether burned directly or heated indirectly to create a gas or liquid fuel to be burned, creates CO2 emissions. However, many research papers have determined that the feedstocks used in a biomass energy facility that are sustainable and therefore re-grown, take carbon dioxide from our atmosphere and convert it to plant matter and release oxygen. By definition, within our plants, the carbon converted and emitted in the form of CO2 cannot exceed the amount of carbon we introduce into the system in the feedstock that was grown. Carbon dioxide is considered one of the “greenhouse gases” known to contribute to global warming and climate change.  Because there is no additional carbon trapped in the atmosphere, the process is known as “carbon neutral”. 
 
Is BG&E a utility company?

No. Biomass Gas & Electric, LLC is a private power producer. In regulated markets we are not allowed to sell power on a retail basis.  This means that we must sell to utilities, co-ops or municipal electric authorities that sell retail power. Additionally projects for specific businesses for internal power are built to help reduce corporate overhead costs or help make them self sustainable.
 
Where does BG&E get biomass for the plants?

BG&E uses a number of very different feedstocks as fuel for our plants.  These include wood waste (supports proper forest management, is easily processed, and has good BTU value); “clean” C&D debris (road & land clearing debris - we exclude painted and CCA treated wood); industry waste (palates, sawdust, paper waste, etc), felled storm debris, urban biomass wastes; rice Hulls & bagasse; energy crops – such as switch grass and Arundo Donax can be grown providing a stable fuel source.  No food crops are ever used as a source of fuel and the growth of energy crops provides new industry opportunities for rural communities.

With a 50 Megawatt plant, for how many homes can you provide electricity?

One Megawatt hour can provide electricity for roughly six hundred and fifty average American homes for one hour, so a fifty Megawatt hour can provide electricity for roughly thirty two thousand five hundred homes.
 
Does BG&E use corn for biomass or anything else that could be used as food?
 
Never.  It is the strict policy of BG&E to not divert any crop that could be used as food to create biofuels or energy of any kind.  In fact, our philosophy is to develop new farming opportunities with non-food crops that can be used as feedstock for our plants.  In conjunction with any new project we want to create ancillary jobs for farmers, harvesters, haulers and processors of these energy crops.

Why has BG&E (versus other companies) been awarded their projects?

Experience.  BG&E’s management has close to 100 years in the traditional and renewable energy fields.  Our expertise extends through engineering, construction, finance and an overall understanding of the renewable marketplace.  We employ all of these advantages when building and engineering new projects.  We are not tied to any specific technology or process.  We adjust and adapt to the specific customer challenge and never try to fit the proverbial square peg in a round hole.  Therefore there is flexibility to be both the appropriate and economically feasible choice for our various partners in order to meet their needs.

Why does BG&E focus on biomass as a feedstock?

Biomass is overwhelmingly plentiful.  In fact, many renewable energy scientists and industry experts call the Southern USA, “The Saudi Arabia of Biomass”.  Additionally, there are a number of ways by which using biomass helps to clean up our environment and make it safer.  Using the wood waste left by the lumber and paper industries; keeping wood waste out of landfills; “cleaning” our forests of dead trees and potentially flammable underbrush all helps to lower green house gas emissions and beneficially uses something that would otherwise be wasted.  Additionally, we can grow biomass, non-food energy crops which can provide jobs for farmers who want to grow their buiness or maybe have lost their business to competition overseas.  And remember that biomass is the oldest form of energy known to Earth – man has been using wood and other organic matter for fuel since the beginning of time.

Is biomass and municipal solid waste (MSW) the same thing?

No.  Biomass refers to all organic substances of relatively recent (non-geological) origin that can be used for energy production, including industrial, commercial, and agricultural wood and plant residues; municipal organic waste; animal manure; and crops directly produced for energy purposes.  Municipal Solid Waste refers to the solid materials that result from the accumulation of all residential, commercial, and light industrial waste.  It is normally handled by local municipalities and typically deposited in a landfill.  MSW consists of metal, glass, paper, plastic, dirt, household vegetative matter and the like, either recyclable or non-recyclable in nature and is not a usable feedstock.

Is BG&E tearing down forests in order to use the trees as feedstock for our projects?

Absolutely not.  In fact we work closely with various forest support groups and foresters to help our forests thrive for this and endless generations. This can help to create jobs for the individuals that are “cleaning” the forests, hauling the biomass and processing the feedstock for use within the plants.  Biomass renewable energy goes hand in hand with keeping our forests healthy and sustainable.

What are the benefits to the local economies touched by BG&E’s projects?

BG&E can produce dozens if not hundreds of employment opportunities for local communities when a plant project is developed.  There are a number of different sectors where jobs can be created: construction, farming, harvesting, feedstock transportation, feedstock preparation and plant maintenance.  Because often times our plants will be built in rural areas, the impact can be very welcome and have a dramatic improvement on the local economy.