Bioelectricity under the Clean Power Plan (CPP)

Presenter: Carrie Annand, Vice President of External Affairs with the Biomass Power Association (BPA)

This presentation focuses on the EPA's Clean Power Plan and various states' plans for including biomass to produce electricity. She will also look at policy factors that are currently unknown and their possible outcomes for the biomass power industry.

About this webinar series
The Clean Power Plan (CPP) was announced by President Obama and the EPA in August 2015 and provides the first-ever national standards that address carbon pollution from power plants. The final rule takes into account over 4.3 million stakeholder and public comments to ease its implementation, with individual states, tribes, and territories building their own plans to meet mandated carbon reduction goals specific to each planning entity. The proposed state plans outlining how this will be achieved must contain specific steps for each tool in a portfolio of methods used to meet state-level goals: emissions trading, increasing energy efficiency on both supply and demand sides, shifting coal generation to natural gas generation, and/or increasing renewable power generation. That last category leaves room for biomass energy, but stakeholders in the bioeconomy still seek clarification on exactly how biomass could or should fit in to a state plan.

This webinar series begins to tackle that question, providing guidance, information from cutting-edge research, and expert perspectives on the role sustainable bioenergy can play in state plans designed to meet CPP requirements. Though the US Supreme Court recently granted a stay on the CPP, many states continue developing their individual plans, and the need for information and clarity regarding this policy remains.