In reading all the stories about the massive biomass-powered plant projects in the U.K., I often wondered how they were going to keep their carbon footprint to a minimum while receiving huge shipments of wood chips from across the ocean.

Now I know. According to a news story from the BBC a company called B9 Shipping is expected to launch is first eco-friendly cargo ship in 2010, which is coincidently when the massive biomass power plants in the U.S. will be up and running . The article says the ships, which will be powered by soft sails and biogas marine engines, will be used to transport biomass from the Baltic states. To read the story in its entirety, go to
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/northern_ireland/8392134.stm.

Sometimes I get so wrapped up in the biomass industry that I forget the transportation industry is in need of some greenhouse gas trimming.

Hopefully, other biomass project developers will read this story and realize that they also have an opportunity to further reduce their carbon footprint by powering the vehicles used to transport biomass with biofuels such as biodiesel.

I have also been watching the unfolding "climategate" story. Seems some hacked e-mails among climate scientists suggest they may have been practicing some questionable science in the course of their research on global warming. It's too soon to tell if this will change the world's mindset about global warming, but I wouldn't hold my breath. In the meantime, I don't think the potential rethinking of the global warming issue absolves the U.S. from increasing the production of clean energy from renewable, domestic sources.