Construction is moving forward on a biomass plant in California that has been trying to get greenlit for the past decade, CBS News reported. In addition to generating energy for Californians, the plant is intended to help reduce the risk of wildfires spreading.
Located in the foothills of Yuba County, the new plant will receive wood and other plant materials from nearby forest restoration and maintenance projects in the Yuba River watershed.
Biomass refers to organic material from plants or animals — including wood and wood processing waste, agricultural byproducts, animal manure, and human sewage, as the U.S. Energy Information Administration has detailed. As a renewable energy source, biomass can be burned and converted into electricity or converted into fuel.
Biomass is not necessarily the cleanest form of renewable energy as burning matter to create fuel releases planet-overheating air pollution into the atmosphere. Cutting down trees just to turn them into biomass, for example, is not environmentally friendly. However, in California's case, the biomass would come from plant materials removed to aid in wildfire prevention, making the entire process much less wasteful.
"As we watch the destruction of the Park Fire in neighboring Butte County, we're reminded of the very real threat of wildfire in our backyard and the importance of projects like this one to make our forests more resilient," Yuba Water General Manager Willie Whittlesey said, per Renewable Energy Magazine.
Proponents of the California biomass plant have also pointed to the fact that the biomass would be transported much shorter distances to the plant than is often required with currently available infrastructure, and this is another environmental win. Shipping and transport are costly and can contribute a lot of air pollution to any project, even an ostensibly planet-friendly one.
"You're trucking that material, which is very low value, hours and hours away. For just a single project it could cost you millions of dollars to truck that material, that basically almost has no value. So having this project in-region really goes hand-in-hand with fire risk reduction," said Yuba Water Agency Watershed Manager Joanna Lessard, according to CBS News.
The plant, which will cost $30 million in total, is being funded in part by $7 million and an $8.3 million low-interest loan from the Yuba Water Agency.
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