Update on Biomass

It’s been about a year since CUB last wrote about biomass, and we thought it high time that we updated folks on what’s been going on with biomass in Oregon. Last June, we talked about a few biomass projects that were just getting started around the state and some of the questions and concerns that CUB has about impacts to food production and water resources, as well as concerns about future greenhouse gas emissions regulations.

Biomass 101: For those who may not know (or need a refresher!), biomass is a renewable energy source consisting of biological material from living, or recently living organisms. As an energy source, it can be used either directly or indirectly. With direct combustion, electricity is generated by burning biomass in boilers to produce high pressure steam, which turns a turbine connected to a generator. As the steam causes the turbine to rotate, the generator turns and electricity is produced. Co-firing involves burning biomass, along with coal, in traditional power plant boilers. With indirect use, the biomass material is transformed into another type of fuel such as methane from manure. This fuel is then burned to produce electricity. There are several ways to convert biomass material into a usable fuel source, but that’s a bit beyond the scope of this post. However, if you’re interested in learning more about biomass, you should check out the Oregon Department of Energy’s Biomass Energy program.

As for what’s been going on here in Oregon, here’s an update on the projects that are currently in the works:

Lakeview Biomass Cogeneration Plant: Lakeview Biomass Cogeneration Project is to be located in Lake County, Oregon, just 20 miles from the California border. However, the project financier, Iberdrola Renewables, has paused construction for the time-being due to a lack of long-term power purchase agreements for the electricity that would have been generated there. If built, the plant would produce approximately 26.8 MW of electricity via steam produced in a biomass-fired boiler fueled by forest waste and trees thinned from surrounding areas, along with sawdust and bark from Fremont Sawmill. An additional benefit of the project (aside from generating electricity from a renewable source) is that some studies show that the area’s biggest air quality issue—particulate matter—may improve due to reductions achieved by replacing a wood-fired boiler at the sawmill. However, nitrogen oxide and carbon monoxide emissions for the area would increase. Though construction is currently stopped, Iberdrola Renewables believes the project is still viable, and plans to continue construction once the market improves and long-term contracts to buy the output are in place. In the meantime, Iberdrola Renewables is continuing the permitting process.

Wallowa County Integrated Biomass Energy Campus Project: This co-generation project, located at the former Wallowa Forest Products mill site three miles west of the City of Wallowa, is still in the works. As of February 22, 2012, Integrated Biomass Resources (IBR) was hopeful that the electrical generators currently at the site would be functional and creating power to fuel IBR’s operations and provide power for other businesses that could locate at the site.

Farm Power Tillamook: This biogas-fueled facility is currently in the process of commissioning according to the project’s website. Located on Silvermist Farm, the facility uses an anaerobic manure digester that harvests methane gas from manure collected from local dairies and farms via underground pipes. The methane is then burned on-site to create electricity for sale. The processed manure is sent back to the partner farmers as organic fertilizer free of pathogens and odor. This project is helping to solve the big issue of manure disposal, which can be problematic in terms of odor, groundwater contamination, and methane gas emissions.

In CUB’s previous post What’s Next for Boardman, CUB talked about some concerns with the increased use of biomass under certain circumstances, such as the displacement of food crops, strain on local water resources due to irrigation, and the need for additional analysis of the greenhouse gas life cycle of each proposed biomass resource (especially in light of the EPA rules coming in the next couple of years). Though displacement of food crops and strain on water resources are not concerns for these particular projects, CUB remains engaged on these issues. CUB continues to be concerned about greenhouse gas emissions from biomass facilities, and will evaluate these concerns, as well as the costs and benefits to ratepayers, rate impacts and other regulatory issues to the extent that a project is evaluated by the Oregon Public Utility Commission.

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