Restoration Fuels Closes Central Oregon Biochar Plant

Restoration Fuels in John Day, Ore. has closed its doors as of mid July, laying off 11 employees in a move that closely follows the closure of Malheur Lumber in town. Restoration Fuels, a subsidiary of the U.S. Endowment for Forestry and Communities, initially produced torrefied wood which ideally would have been destined to a converted coal-fired power plant along the Columbia River. The plant had gone as far as providing material for test burns as the potential conversion was analyzed. However, Portland Gas & Electric decided not to convert the power plant, leaving the torrefaction plant without a viable market.

Instead, Restoration Fuels in 2021 switched to producing biochar for soil amendments and industrial applications. The facility was in the process of establishing and expanding markets. However, the biochar plant, which is located adjacent Malheur Lumber, relied on sawdust and chips from the sawmill for its raw material supply. That evaporated when Malheur Lumber announced its closure earlier in July.

Despite the closure, plant officials say the facility had proven the torrefaction process using a thermal oxidizer that burns syngas to heat the torrefier and chip dryer for an overall smaller carbon footprint. In a 2022 feature article in Wood Bioenergy, plant officials said the facility offers a scalable solution to forest health issues, specifically the need to process low-grade biomass in addition to small logs generated from thinning projects, that could be replicated anywhere there are forest health challenges and a lack of local markets.