Northern Sierra Biomass Initiative

The Northern Sierra Biomass Initiative (NSBI) will create 50 additional megawatts of renewable energy from eleven existing biomass facilities located within a six-county area in Northern California. This effort will result in the creation of 350 new jobs and an estimated $36 million in economic activity, supporting a region that currently suffers from the highest unemployment in the state.

Project Overview
In January 2001, Sierra Pacific Industries (SPI) announced that the Loyalton saw mill and electric power generation facility would cut 150 jobs from its operations. A recent reduction in supply from the US Forest Service forced the closure of the historic mill, and made a huge impact on the small Loyalton community. Today the plant, with a 20-megawatt capacity, continues to produce 10 megawatts, enough to power 10,000 homes. In a collaborative effort between remaining staff and management, the mill went from being a lumber producer to a green energy business. The cogeneration plant is supplied in part from small diameter wood from U.S. Forest Service land as a way to displace potential fuel for catastrophic wildfires. By diverting materials from the landfills and increasing the resiliency of forests through sustainable management practices, biomass utilization significantly reduces the amount of greenhouse gases that would otherwise be emitted, while simultaneously increasing the long-term ability of the Northern California forests to sequester more carbon.

Existing infrastructure will enable Sierra Business Council and its project partners to replicate this story in Lassen, Plumas, Sierra, Butte, and Nevada counties through the Northern Sierra Biomass Initiative. This project will also support the development of one emergent biomass to liquid fuel technology (BTL) facility, adding an additional 5 megawatts of renewable power generation.

Project Objectives

• Increase the renewable energy output from existing biomass facilities by 50 MW’s.
• Create 350 new jobs in the region in 5 years time.
• Mitigate catastrophic wildfire risk and implement large landscape sustainable forest health and carbon programs.
• Develop a commercial scale biomass to liquid fuel (BTL) facility.
• Engage regional stakeholders via public/private partnerships and collaborative processes.
• Maximize value of  biomass based renewable energy kW’s  in Power Purchase Agreements.
• Develop an economic model that is subsidy free and market driven, with assistance used as necessary for initial cost of entry.

Project Process

• Create a GIS mapping system and data base of all relevant vegetation, slope, transportation, supply and ownership data in the sourcing radius of existing biomass facilities.
• Assess the technological, supply, financial, and policy needs of existing biomass power plants and BTL development.
• Obtain or renegotiate Power Purchase Agreements to provide the market rate for firm renewable power, with the concomitant ability to pay $60/bone dry ton to licensed timber operators to profitably work in fuel load reduction.
• Lead the creation of a public/private partnership to build, own and operate a biomass to liquid (non-ethanol) fuel facility.
• Leverage existing funding for the NSBI process through Federal and State grants, tax credit programs, government incentive programs, renewable energy/conservation/ revenue bonds, private equity, co-op financing programs, guaranteed debt financing, NGO donor funding, and in-kind donations from partners.

Aligning each of our stakeholders and implementing this vision is our final step in the process. Putting 350 good jobs back on the map and ushering in the new resource economy is our long-term vision.

To learn more about this project, please contact Project Coordinator Keith Logan at loganandassociates@gmail.com.