Is Bionenergy in Scott Valley¹s Future?

Part 1: The Kingdom of Biomass
By Ric Costales

First in a three-part series

Recently, the Klamath National Forest and OreCal RC&D secured a $20,000 grant to do the initial research and planning on a small bioenergy project in Scott Valley. As this could be the first step in a significant new industry in our valley, the Pioneer Press is doing a series of articles to help the community understand the topic of bioenergy.

Biomass is nothing new to Scott Valley. It came when the first primitive plants began growing here. The utilization of biomass is also ancient, beginning with the first harvest of plants for human food. Even using biomass for energy is nothing new in our valley. From the first campfire to today¹s super-efficient woodstoves, people in the watershed have always utilized this unique aspect of nature¹s bounty.

As in everything else in the modern age, though, biomass ain¹t what it used to be!

To scientists, biomass is defined as the amount of living matter, in the form of organisms, present in a particular habitat, usually expressed as weight per unit area. To most people, however, biomass has come to mean any organic "stuff" that is underutilized, a waste product or a by-product and can somehow be used to make something. That "something" can be anything from household goods to industrial chemicals to energy. Thus, biomass has been further categorized by the uses to which it is put such as bio-products, bio-chemicals and bioenergy.

From the brush and juniper covered Eastside, to the lush hayfields of the valley floor to the timbered slopes of the Westside, our watershed is a huge biomass factory. Food and shelter provide outlets for some of our production, but the vast amount of our biomass capacity goes begging for want of technology, markets or plain old American Ingenuity. This might be about to change!

Technology

Sources of biomass have always been obvious. Whether cornstalks, manure, sawdust, logging slash or hillsides solid with manzanita, the big question has never been, "Where is it?" More to the point is, "What can we do with it and how can we do it?" Enter technology.

The first stage after identifying a biomass source is determining its physical and chemical qualities. These properties are what determine how the biomass is used and what technologies are best suited to accomplish the chosen task. In the current state of biomass research, this analysis is often going on at the smallest physical scale imaginable. Unique characteristics of the electron bonding in specific organic chemicals and DNA sequences of enzymes are examples of the sophistication of this research.

Having identified the physical properties of a biomass source, one can then determine the potential uses to which it can be put, which can vary widely. For example, sawdust can be put to use directly in a number of materials such as particle board, or indirectly as a feedstock for ethanol production or electrical generation. Many crop residues are similar. Other biomass sources, have very limited application. For example, logging slash, by virtue of its complex blend of needles, bark, wood, and resins, is suited almost solely to energy applications.

Oftentimes, it is a simple matter to turn potential uses into reality by adapting them to existing technologies. For example, the widespread use of woodwaste to generate electricity was more a matter of economics than a technological challenge. Most often, however, major technological research is needed to put the biomass to use. For instance, using biomass in the economical production of ethanol has engaged many of the finest scientific minds in the world for years and is still elusive.

Other technological challenges for biomass development lie in harvesting and processing. One only has to imagine a hillside full of brush or over-stocked conifers to recognize the difficulty in getting the material to the processing point. As in the rest of the biomass world, considerable effort is being directed at solving these puzzles.

Most often, these stages in the utilization of biomass are theoretical. With great effort and what amounts to luck, a biomass application reaches the prototype stage where it must meet the 5000 pound gorilla of the real world: the marketplace!

Markets

America owes much of its success to the marketplace. It is where people vote with their pocketbooks. If something works, it sells. If not, it either goes back to the drawing board or gets put in the trash heap. For decades, vast areas of biomass utilization have listed the drawing board as the "home address." In short, many forms of biomass simply don¹t pay.

However, markets have a funny way of changing. New factors come in. Others fade away. Some become more important. Such is the case with biomass utilization, particularly with regard to energy. To wit:

… 500+ American lives and $60 billion of this year¹s budget in Iraq, not to mention the rest of the Mideast.
… Our National Forests are disease- and drought-ridden firetraps.
… Rural communities are dying on the economic vine.

In light of this "new" equation, biomass, particularly for energy production, is getting a renewed look in the marketplace.

Currently, biomass-generated electricity is 3-5 cents more per kilowatt hour than current pricing. When it comes to heating, biomass (wood-based) is slightly cheaper than other forms of heating but more inconvenient. Turning biomass into ethanol or bio-diesel is generally $1 per gallon more than gasoline or diesel. In other words, biomass is not completely out of the race,

The benefits of a vast domestically produced source of clean energy that improves forest health, reduces the risk of catastrophic fire, gives a major economic boost to rural communities across the nation and greatly reduces our dependence on foreign oil is not lost on investors or policy wonks.

The "Bio Rush" may be beginning.

American Ingenuity

The final factor in utilizing biomass comes down to that most magical aspect of our national heritage: American Ingenuity. When Americans put their mind to something, they usually figure out what needs to be done and how to do it. The fact that 55% of the Nobel Prizes for science from 1951 to 2000 were awarded to Americans is testimony to this ability. So is our front-runner status in so many technological fields.

The challenges facing biomass utilization are the same ones this American tradition has conquered before: technology, economics, public opinion, and resistance to change. Most experts agree that inevitably biomass utilization will become so common that future generations will wonder how we could ever have wasted such precious resources. It is a safe bet that American Ingenuity will play a huge role in this evolution.

Next installment: Biomass in Our Backyard---the Local Challenge

Biomass Press Release #2

Biomass Press Release #3

Biomass Fact Sheet