A recently awarded U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) grant will help launch a viable, sustainable biofuels industry in the Pacific Northwest. The $40 million grant directs Washington State University and the University of Washington to create the Northwest Advanced Renewables Alliance (NARA). The substantial grant will help the nation develop renewable energy resources from forest [...]
Klamath Falls Biomass Plant Gets Much Needed Approval
Northwest Energy Systems is planning two Oregon biomass plants, and it’s proposed $150 million Klamath Falls plant won a key approval in early July, putting it closer to breaking ground later this year. The Bellevue, Wash. based company said that the state Department of Energy declared its site certificate application for the 40-megawatt plant complete, [...]
Zeachem Breaks Ground In Oregon
Thanks in part to a $25 million federal grant, Colorado-based biorefiner Zeachem broke ground in early June on a cellulosic ethanol demo plant in eastern Oregon near Boardman. Company officials say the facility will produce 250,000 gallons of ethanol annually, plus ethyl acetate. The plant is using poplar fiber from Greenwood Resources irrigated fiber farms [...]
Oregon Biomass Projects Moving
A new biomass electricity plant is being proposed for central Oregon, and an older, existing biomass electricity generating plant in eastern Oregon may soon gain new life in two recent developments in this forest-rich state. Biogreen Sustainable Energy Co. is looking to build a new 20 MW plant in La Pine in central Oregon, and [...]
Oregon Gov. Vetoes Energy Bill
Oregon Gov. Kulongoski recently vetoed a bill that would have allowed existing biomass, hydropower and municipal solid waste facilities built before 1995 to qualify for the state’s Renewable Portfolio Standard. The standard dictates that 25% of all retail electricity sales in Oregon must come from renewables by 2025. Proponents of the bill argued that it [...]