Oregon: In an insane attempt to prevent CO2-induced bad weather, is it a great idea to use over 60,000 acres of irrigated farmland trying to grow giant cane to burn in the coal plant?

Biomass: Mimicking coal with crops could be a lifeline for Ore. power plant -- 06/25/2012 -- www.eenews.net

Replacing older plants with new energy sources employs workers, too -- sometimes more, sometimes less -- but the churn is undoubtedly painful for the people who lose their jobs.

...Some people did not like the coal plant, but most didn't mind it, Beyeler said.

"It only seems to be Washington, D.C., that has a problem with coal-fired plants," he said.

...Converting the Boardman plant to run on biomass could also change the way agriculture is done for 50 or even 100 miles around, PGE says, because growing enough giant cane to meet that demand around the clock would take more than 60,000 acres, triple the area of Manhattan and a substantial share of the irrigated farmland near Boardman.

The boiler would need to burn 8,000 tons of plant material each day to keep its water steaming and its turbine spinning.