The company, Xcel Energy, wants to stop buying energy from three biofuel plants in Minnesota, one that runs on wood and turkey droppings and two others that run on wood only. Xcel is doing this because it claims energy from biomass plants, such as the plant supplying turkey droppings, are 10 times more expensive than wind-generated power and using other sources instead of the biofuel plants could save customers nearly $700 million over the next 11 years. However the plants support at least 100 jobs, the loggers and truckers say, and bolster the state’s commitment to renewable energy. And without the biomass plants, Minnesota’s forests would be cluttered with damaged or low-grade trees for which there is little other use, decreasing the health of woodlands and increasing the risk of forest fires. If the company decides not to use the renewable energy from the plants, they will shut down leading to further environmental problems as well as the loss of jobs for the workers in the plants. Turkey litter apparently is a good fuel and a valuable resource and if the turkey droppings are not processed, they would be stuck with an estimated 250,000 tons of turkey excrement per year.

The loggers and truckers are suing Xcel in an effort to save the plants. The impact of this case is significant because the shutting down of these plants can have serious ecological effects leading to increased chances of forest fires. Also the jobs of the people working at the plants are also at risk and for manual labor jobs, finding more work might be more difficult for these workers without relocation. Also having large amounts of turkey waste just lying around is a waste of perfectly good resources. Even if biomass is more expensive than other forms of fuel it’s a resource that can be used to generate energy and clean the environment further. This conflict is also furthered by a dramatic fall in the costs of wind and solar power which has made the use of biomass as fuel more unattractive by fuel companies.

 Citation:

Tabuchi, Hiroko. “Giving Thanks, but Not for Turkey-Powered Energy.” The New York Times, The New York Times, 22 Nov. 2017, www.nytimes.com/2017/11/22/climate/turkey-droppings-biofuel.html.