In the United States (US), bioenergy project developer West Biofuels, LLC has recently announced that it has been selected for up to US$30 million in award negotiations from the US Department of Energy (DOE) Office of Clean Energy Demonstrations (OCED) to provide low-carbon, stable energy for the rural communities in Burney, Mariposa, and Mammoth Lakes, California (CA).
By developing a cluster of rural projects in the Sierra Nevada-Cascade, West Biofuels’ says that it can cost-effectively support each project’s ongoing operations and maintenance to ensure long-term sustainability and success.
The Office of Clean Energy Demonstrations funds will help each rural community convert forest biomass into renewable energy to:
- Provide low-carbon, reliable energy for three remote communities that also face the risk of wildfires;
- Reduce carbon emissions using produced biochar that can also be sold in regional agricultural markets;
- Provide an end-use and local market for biomass from forest thinning campaigns that are key to help prevent forest fires in the region.
Burney, Mariposa, and Mammoth Lakes are small, remote, and mountainous communities often threatened by wildfires and faced with frequent power outages due to extreme weather.
We thank the Office of Clean Energy Demonstrations for their support and investment. Our project addresses multiple commercialized end uses by deploying three community-scale bioenergy systems, converting biomass into 100 percent renewable electricity and biochar soil amendments, said Kristen Decker, Chief Financial Officer of West Biofuels.
Each facility is targeted to generate 3 MW of reliable, clean electricity production by utilizing 28,000-35,000 dry tonnes per year of forest residuals.
Each project will offset up to 53,000 tonnes of carbon dioxide equivalent (CO2eq) annually from fossil energy displacement, fire mitigation, and biochar sequestration.
Each site plans to create 15 permanent and good-paying jobs to support the local community.
This project represents a win-win for the community with both good jobs and providing sustainable renewable energy. I want to thank our partners, including Fall River Resource District, Mariposa Biomass Project, Mariposa County Resource Conservation District, Whitebark Institute, and Momentum, as well as the US Forest Service, California Energy Commission, and California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection as they’ve helped our projects align local interests and standards for their respective communities, ended Kristen Decker.
