As the general population becomes more aware of our environmental challenges and the emerging energy crisis certain words have become popular in the media.  Not too many years ago words like sustainable, green or renewable would bring snickers from people who thought the environmental movement and search for alternative energy sources were just hoaxes perpetuated by those with purely political agendas.  Not anymore.  Just about everywhere you look in media and advertising people are talking green and sustainability.

One unfortunate side effect of having meaningful words become marketing buzzwords is that what these words mean and represent is often lost in a barrage of advertising and shallow quasi-news reporting.

The words sustainable and sustainability are powerful words with meaning that reveals great wisdom for the future of humankind.  It is important that we preserve the power of these words to help us understand what we must do to provide a high quality of life in the years ahead.  It would be tragic to be seduced by the spin doctors that because we put a green or sustainable label on something that we are properly addressing our long-term challenges.

Imagine a world where every time you flush the toilet the lights in your house turn on. Well you’d better stock up on laxatives because with biomass, imaginary is becoming reality. The burning of municipal waste along with other organic items is becoming increasingly beneficial for both the environment and Oregon’s economy. Biomass is found in two main forms, biofuels and municipal solid waste (MSW).

The public commonly knows biofuels in the form of biodiesel, bioethanol and biogas. These cleaner burning fuels contribute less pollution compared to fossil fuels, boasting other favorable impacts on Oregon’s atmosphere, lowering almost all harmful emissions and toxic pollutants. Even with the benefits of biofuels, this form of renewable energy has not become widespread enough to support Oregon’s growing industries. Municipal solid waste (MSW), as we mentioned earlier, can be burned to create electricity using heat and steam to turbines. When brought to full efficiency the burning of MSW can total around 200 times more energy, Oregon uses in a year. This reduces side effects from waste treatment and landfills that harm ecosystems. However the process creates a toxic ash containing many harmful metals. Precautions can be taken to solve this problem, causing much of the ash to be safe in the use in the building of roads, cement blocks, and artificial reefs for wildlife.

Biomass is a resource that we already have at our fingertips. What people need to know is all it takes is a little effort to utilize its power for our needs. Your imaginary renewable resource world is soon to be a reality. As long as there’s garbage there’s biomass.