Election May Give New Hope For Arizona Biomass 

A major reshuffling of candidates for the Arizona Corporation Commission may bring new life to a derailed effort that would expand biomass utilization in the state to help facilitate much-needed forest thinning and restoration efforts. A state court judge recently threw multiple candidates off the ballot due to irregularities in signature-gathering, including an incumbent and the commission’s biggest biomass supporter.

The commission has five members. Republican Lea Marquez Peterson is an incumbent who supports a biomass mandate for the state; the other Republican incumbent is against it. Three seats are open, so that means if two candidates who support the mandate are elected, the effort stands a better chance of moving forward.  Candidates are on both sides of the issue, and some haven’t taken a position.

Increasing utilization of biomass is critical to forest health in Arizona, where officials are looking to restore millions of acres while reducing wildfire risk. Most involved agree that lack of biomass markets is severely hampering restoration progress. The commission previously voted down a proposal requiring utilities in the state to produce up to 90MW annually from biomass. The federal Four Forest Restoration Initiative (4FRI) has treated 15,000 acres since 2012 as opposed to its goal of 50,000 acres a year, with lack of markets a big reason for coming up short.

RELATED ARTICLES:

Forest Service Backs Out Of Awarding Phase 2 Arizona Forests Restoration Contract; Uncertainties Persist For Novo Power

Arizona Restoration Remains Uncertain

Latest news

Evergreen Engineering Celebrates 40th Anniversary 

Evergreen Engineering Celebrates 40th Anniversary Evergreen Engineering, Inc. was incorporated in 1985 with headquarters in Eugene, Ore., originally served mainly the forest products industries (wood products and pulp & paper) that used to be predominant in the...

Scott Bax Joins Enviva As Executive VP & COO

Scott Bax Joins Enviva As Executive VP & COOAfter announcing its emergence from Chapter 11 bankruptcy on December 6, 2024, 20 years after the company’s founding, Enviva has added Soctt Bax to its Executive Team, making him Executive Vice President and Chief Operating...

Horizon Biofuels Explosion Kills Three

Horizon Biofuels Explosion Kills ThreeHorizon Biofuels, a wood waste processing plant that makes animal bedding and bagged wood pellets for domestic use in Fremont, Neb., suffered a catastrophic explosion that killed three in late July. After emergency crews battled...

Find Us On Social

Subscribe to Our Newsletter

Wood Bioenergy News Online hits the inboxes of subscribers in the wood-to-energy sectors.

Subscribe/Renew

Wood Bioenergy is published and delivered worldwide 6 times per year. Free to qualified readers in the U.S. Subscribers outside the U.S. are asked to pay a small fee.

Advertise

Complete the online form so we can direct you to the appropriate Sales Representative.