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Wood is one of the earth’s oldest energy sources, but Granite Staters are considering wood chips as a new option for fueling the energy grid. Proponents see a lot of possibilities for biomass: New Hampshire is the second most forested state, and there are lots of trees available to burn. But critics warn that the wood supply isn't infinite and that wood isn’t an overly efficient power source. We’ll look at the benefits and challenges of biomass.

Guests

• Bill Gabler, project director for Clean Power Development, LLC, a New Hampshire company that focuses on the development of renewable and sustainable wood-fueled biomass-energy facilities
• Curt Whittaker, shareholder and head of the Energy Practice at the Concord-based law firm Rath, Young and Pignatelli

We'll also hear from

• Steve Walker, president and CEO of New England Wood Pellet
• Jana Chicoine, spokesperson for Concerned Citizens of Russell, a group critical of biomass energy located in Western Massachusetts
• Richard Despins, station manager of Schiller Station in Portsmouth, which is home to the Northern Woods Power Biomass Plant

This program was originally broadcast on May 19, 2009

Here’s an eye-opening statistic: that mid-day cup of coffee you were about to grab took 37 gallons of water to produce. If your lunch today is a hamburger, that’s another 634 six gallons. Many of the foods we eat and the products we use are much more water intensive than we might realize. From irrigation to assembly to transportation, nearly every step of a supply chain uses water.

In fact, only 6 percent of the water Americans consume actually comes from household use like dishwashers and laundry. So how do we use the other 94 percent? Arjen Hoekstra wants both consumers and corporations to know where the rest of that water goes. He’s the scientific director at the Water Footprint Network and Professor of Water Management at the University of Twente the Netherlands. He joins us from his home in the Netherlands as part of our “next green thing” series.

Calculate Your Water Footprint

Mother Jones: What's Your Water Footprint?

(Photo by Keith Barlow via Flickr/Creative Commons)