"The number of biomass plants, another option for disposing of trees, has fallen to about two dozen from 66 in the 1990s, in part due to the expiration of government price subsidies." - according to the California Energy Commission.
https://www.wsj.com/articles/logs-are-littering-california-towns-as-trees-are-cut-to-prevent-wildfires-11560504600
Why not REOPEN those unused BIOMASS plants and clean up our forests before we have a Disaster?
HSU Lumberjack Newspaper Article:
https://thelumberjack.org/2020/02/13/oak-blight-hits-humboldt
My Comment: 66 Million of Dead Trees pose a Fire Hazard in California. Fortunately, we have Many BIOMASS Power Plants that are able to Use the Dead Wood to Create Electricity... A Practical Alternative to Coal, Nukes or Natural Gas. Sadly, the Federal Subsidies that Fund the Biomass Power Stations have dried up and MOST of California's Biomass Power Plants Have Been Closed, due to Market Conditions... Endangering People and Animals to Wildfire Hazards. SEE: https://www.sfchronicle.com/opinion/openforum/article/Turn-California-s-dead-trees-into-electricity-9204001.php
We have a working Biomass Power Plant in Eureka, California that uses Waste from the Lumber Mills [sawdust, tiny trees and bark.] to Generate Electricity.
According to an article in the North Coast Journal:
Biomass — We locally produce about 20 percent of electricity used in the county from biomass. Cost is slightly higher than electricity imported from outside the county. Because of limitations on the availability of wood waste biomass and the expressed desire of the community to limit air emissions, I don't see expansion of wood waste electricity production as likely. Biomass power output is constant, which is desirable.
https://www.northcoastjournal.com/humboldt/why-i-support-terra-gens-wind-project/Content?oid=14525966
California Biomass and Waste-To-Energy Statistics and Data.
https://ww2.energy.ca.gov/almanac/renewables_data/biomass/index_cms.php
In 2018, biomass-produced electricity in our state totaled 5,847 gigawatt-hours (GWh) or 2.99 percent of the state's total system power. A total of 91 operating biomass power plants, with an installed capacity about 1,309 megawatts, are in California.
Biomass power plant is the general term for waste-to-energy power plants that burn organic material. They are comprised of four specific types defined by the fuel they burn: Biomass,
Digester Gas (Anaerobic Digestion), Landfill Gas, Municipal Solid Waste (MSW)
It uses forest "residue" that is chipped up - dead and downed trees and slash and debris from logging - as its fuel.
For an animated movie about how a waste-to-energy plant works, go to: http://wheelabratortechnologies.com/index.cfm/plants/how-it-works/
Contact: Michael Nyberg, michael.nyberg@energy.ca.gov
While the larger conversation about plant economics and mass retirements in the U.S. has been focused on coal and nuclear power plants, the nation’s much smaller biomass power industry is grappling with similar issues in markets where cheap natural gas, wind, and solar generation resources are proliferating.
According to the Energy Information Administration (EIA), the number of biomass (or biopower) plants producing electricity from combustion, co-firing, gasification, anaerobic digestion, and pyrolysis, nearly doubled between 2003 and 2016 (from 485 to 760). Yet, biomass power accounted for only 1.6% of net U.S. electricity generation in 2017, producing 64,057 GWh. Production has fluctuated slightly—and varied widely by region (Figure 1)—since 2013, when the industry produced 60,858 GWh.
https://www.wsj.com/articles/logs-are-littering-california-towns-as-trees-are-cut-to-prevent-wildfires-11560504600
Why not REOPEN those unused BIOMASS plants and clean up our forests before we have a Disaster?
HSU Lumberjack Newspaper Article:
Sudden Oak Death Plagues Humboldt’s Forests
Humboldt County is known for its beautiful forests, but sudden oak death threatens its trees
My Comment: 66 Million of Dead Trees pose a Fire Hazard in California. Fortunately, we have Many BIOMASS Power Plants that are able to Use the Dead Wood to Create Electricity... A Practical Alternative to Coal, Nukes or Natural Gas. Sadly, the Federal Subsidies that Fund the Biomass Power Stations have dried up and MOST of California's Biomass Power Plants Have Been Closed, due to Market Conditions... Endangering People and Animals to Wildfire Hazards. SEE: https://www.sfchronicle.com/opinion/openforum/article/Turn-California-s-dead-trees-into-electricity-9204001.php
BioMass Power Plant - DG Fairhaven
Creating Electricity from Sawmill Waste
Steam from the Power Plant on a Windless Day
We have a working Biomass Power Plant in Eureka, California that uses Waste from the Lumber Mills [sawdust, tiny trees and bark.] to Generate Electricity.
 |
BioMass Power Plant - DG Fairhaven
Creating Electricity from Sawmill Waste
|
https://www.northcoastjournal.com/humboldt/why-i-support-terra-gens-wind-project/Content?oid=14525966
California Biomass and Waste-To-Energy Statistics and Data.
https://ww2.energy.ca.gov/almanac/renewables_data/biomass/index_cms.php
In 2018, biomass-produced electricity in our state totaled 5,847 gigawatt-hours (GWh) or 2.99 percent of the state's total system power. A total of 91 operating biomass power plants, with an installed capacity about 1,309 megawatts, are in California.
Biomass power plant is the general term for waste-to-energy power plants that burn organic material. They are comprised of four specific types defined by the fuel they burn: Biomass,
Digester Gas (Anaerobic Digestion), Landfill Gas, Municipal Solid Waste (MSW)
 |
| The plant pictured is the Wheelabrator Shasta Energy Company power plant in Anderson, California. |
It uses forest "residue" that is chipped up - dead and downed trees and slash and debris from logging - as its fuel.
For an animated movie about how a waste-to-energy plant works, go to: http://wheelabratortechnologies.com/index.cfm/plants/how-it-works/
Contact: Michael Nyberg, michael.nyberg@energy.ca.gov
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U.S. Biomass Power, Dampened by Market Forces, Fights to Stay Ablaze.
Though experts say biomass should continue to play a key role in the U.S. renewable power portfolio for its baseload properties, contributions to forest management, and other reasons, a swathe of uneconomic biomass power plants across the U.S.—especially in the West—have been recently idled or shut down.While the larger conversation about plant economics and mass retirements in the U.S. has been focused on coal and nuclear power plants, the nation’s much smaller biomass power industry is grappling with similar issues in markets where cheap natural gas, wind, and solar generation resources are proliferating.
According to the Energy Information Administration (EIA), the number of biomass (or biopower) plants producing electricity from combustion, co-firing, gasification, anaerobic digestion, and pyrolysis, nearly doubled between 2003 and 2016 (from 485 to 760). Yet, biomass power accounted for only 1.6% of net U.S. electricity generation in 2017, producing 64,057 GWh. Production has fluctuated slightly—and varied widely by region (Figure 1)—since 2013, when the industry produced 60,858 GWh.
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