Arizona Groups Seek To Break ‘Biomass Bottleneck’ 

A group of local governments, timber industry representatives and environmental groups recently met with congressional leaders and U.S. Forest Service officials to indicate that Arizona’s forest health efforts and industry infrastructure face collapse unless a new market for biomass is created in the state.

Two recently released reports emphasize forest health dynamics in the state and the need to unclog a “biomass bottleneck” to keep restoration projects moving.

Reports from the Eastern Arizona Counties Organization and the Natural Resources Working Group in the White Mountains, and another from the Greater Flagstaff Forest Partnership (GFFP) and the Forest Biomass Coalition Working Group both agree construction of a large biomass power plant is the best way to maintain forest restoration activities in the state.

Eastern Arizona Counties Organization Executive Director Pascal Berlioux voiced concern about delays. His group stressed the need for a second biomass burning plant back in December.

Berlioux noted that state interests are in agreement on the solution, but the “elephant in the room” is who will buy the power from such a plant. Several companies have expressed interest in building if power offtake purchase agreements can be secured. Supporters say millions of acres of overgrown Arizona forest are at risk of high-intensity wildfire, along with the communities and watersheds they support. The report says that a fiberboard or biocarbon plant may eventually be built, but only a second biomass-burning plant near Flagstaff or Winslow offers a proven, near-term solution.

The existing Novo Biopower plant in Snowflake processes enough material to support thinning approximately 15,000 acres per year. Restoration advocates say meaningful progress requires thinning 40,000 acres annually, which would require additional biomass disposal capacity and assurances sufficient to attract private investment in a second 30 MW plant.

The objective is a big one: Ongoing forest health operations within the 2.5-million-acre Four Forest Restoration Initiative area, which includes the Kaibab, Tonto, Coconino and Apache-Sitgreaves national forests. “It is important to note that our endorsement of bioenergy does not preclude support for future utilization options,” the report states.

The latest recommendations align with a December report from the Natural Resources Working Group, endorsed by most loggers, mill owners and county governments within the 2.5-million-acre Four Forest Restoration Initiative (4FRI) area.