Nor is biomass environmentally friendly. According to studies, biomass powered plants can release more carbon dioxide than coal powered plants. It also releases nitrogen oxides and particulate matter. And in order to produce the necessary biomass to make it a larger source of energy, more land would have to cultivated, which means less land would be available for wildlife. Given the fact that America s topsoil is being eroded faster than it can be produced now, a greater reliance on biomass would clearly devastate the Great Plains more than the current practice of mining coal.
Wind power is the current darling of the eco-energy set.
It is renewable and doesn t produce any pollution according to them. It has also been the recipient of millions of dollars in research grants and taxpayer subsidies. Yet, it hasn t achieved the potential promised by environmental energy engineers back in the seventies. It expensive, it is unreliable, and it creates more pollution than a Soviet power plant. Low cost wind power also requires strong, regular winds.