HB 1128 – Coal Bed Methane As Renewable Resource

Rep. Koch’s HB 1128 passed the House on a 78-18 vote. A casual glance at the roll call made me think it was mostly Democrats from northern Indiana who opposed this. It specifies that, for the purposes of the statute that provides financial incentives for clean coal and energy projects, hydrogen and “Coal bed methane derived from a naturally occurring biogenic process” count as “renewable energy resources.”

Trying to figure out what this coal bed methane business was about, I see that the Citizen Action Coalition has given a brief explanation:

This bill adds hydrogen and coal bed methane to the definition of renewable energy. CAC opposes this bill for several reasons. First, hydrogen has to be produced from something; therefore, it could be produced from nuclear and fossil fuels which would make it a non-renewable resource. The production of hydrogen from wind, solar, and water resources holds promise for the future, especially with respect to energy storage and transportation. However, since the bill does not specify the hydrogen be produced from a truly renewable resource, CAC opposed adding hydrogen to the renewables definition.

Second, there is nothing renewable about coal, including coal bed methane. While the language limits CBM to “coal bed methane derived from a naturally occurring biogenic process”, which would exclude CBM produced through hydrofracking, it is still coal, which means it is not renewable.

Third, it is highly problematic to continue to add resources to the Statutory definition of renewables. The new net metering rule, as well as the proposed feed-in-tariff refer to the Statutory definition. Which means, any future addition by the General Assembly will qualify (and we all know Sen. Hershman et all continue to believe that uranium, coal, and natural gas are renewable) and within both the net metering rule and the proposed fit are caps on how much total “renewable” energy can be added to the grid. By adding additional resources, especially when they’re not really renewable, the cap may be quickly used up, leaving no room for solar and wind projects to interconnect.