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:
Latest news
Con-Vey Adds Sales Manager
Con-Vey, a leading provider of industrial automation and custom material handling equipment, has appointed industry veteran Jon Stults as its new sales manager. Stults, with nearly three decades of experience in the industry, will play a pivotal role in advancing Con-Vey’s sales strategies and processes…
Rotochopper Welcomes 120 To Minnesota Demo Day
Attendees and Rotochopper employees alike were excited for the return of Demo Day and the opportunity to gather while seeing Rotochopper’s newest equipment in action at Herman’s Landscape Supplies in Jordan, Minn. This was the 10th Demo Day event for Rotochopper, with 120 people from across North America participating…
Bruks Siwertell Launches New Mobile Chipper
Bruks Siwertell has expanded its product range with the introduction of the Bruks 1006.3 RT industrial mobile wood chipper. The truck-mounted chipper has a flexible design, and offers high-capacity chipping capabilities for a range of applications, like fuel chip production…
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.