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
Mercer Purchases Germany’s HIT
Mercer International Inc. has entered into an agreement to acquire all of the outstanding shares of the parent company of HIT (Holz Industrie Torgau) for €270 million. HIT owns, among other things, 100% of a timber processing and value-add pallet production facility in Torgau, Germany and a wood processing facility in Dahlen, Germany that produces garden products…
Equipment Companies Reveal Latest Developments
This is the second part of three parts in the coverage of the Wood Bioenergy Conference & Expo held March 29-30, 2022 at the Omni Hotel at CNN Center and hosted by Wood Bioenergy magazine. Part one in the June issue focused on the keynote talks from producer and consultant personnel. Part two highlights several presentations delivered by representatives of equipment and technologies companies. Look for…
Drax Acquires BC’s Princeton Standard Pellet
Drax Group has signed an agreement with Princeton Standard Pellet Corporation (PSPC) to acquire its pellet plant in Princeton, British Columbia, Canada. The acquisition is expected to be complete in the third quarter of this year. The plant, which has been operating since 1995, has the capacity to produce 90,000 tonnes of wood pellets a year, primarily from sawmill residues. Around half of the output from the plant…
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.