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
Drax Adds Rail Link
A one-year-old rail link has increased capacity to deliver more sustainable biomass from Drax’s LaSalle BioEnergy pellet plant in Urania, La., to its UK power station. The $15 million rail link, combined with other initiatives, have already contributed to a $5/tonne reduction in Drax’s biomass production costs in 2019. The five miles of rail track connects Drax’s LaSalle BioEnergy pellet plant…
Highland Pellets Remains Committed
A recent advertisement promoting “Liquidation Sale, 4 Lines Available” with a photo that is the Highland Pellets wood pellet mill in Pine Bluff, Ark. has generated rumor that Highland Pellets is throwing in the towel. Not true, says Highland Pellets Chairman Tom Reilley. Earlier in the year Highland Pellets revealed it had temporarily shut…
Sennebogen Appoints National Sales Manager
Sennebogen LLC announced that Jason Jones has joined the firm’s executive teams as Americas’ Sales Manager. Jones now takes senior responsibility for…
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.