New project uses slash for power

TONASKET — The U.S. Forest Service has launched a pilot project that would generate electricity from piles of woody debris left behind by forest thinning projects.

The debris from the Tonasket Ranger District would normally be burned. But the experimental project will instead pay ABCO Wood Recycling of Post Falls, Idaho, to grind branches and small logs, and then ship the chips about 70 miles to Avista Corp.’s biomass facility in Kettle Falls.

If successful, it could lead to similar projects in the Okanogan-Wenatchee National Forest.

It will take about 430 semitrailer loads, each carrying about 35 tons of unprocessed wood waste, to haul all the material to the plant. Avista burns the wood to heat water for steam, which turns turbines.

At Avista, the 15,000 tons of wood waste will generate enough electricity to serve 37,500 homes for eight to 10 days, said control operator Greg Wiggins.

It would cost much less to simply burn the slash piles, said Brad Flatten, timber sales and stewardship contracting specialist for the Okanogan-Wenatchee National Forest. "But when you burn a pile that size, you absolutely bake the soil underneath, and you often get noxious weeds growing there. Visually, it’s an ugly mess, unless you spend money cleaning it up."

The Forest Service contracted this first biomass project as an experiment, he said. They’ll use this and other projects over the next three years to determine if the benefits outweigh the costs.

Tonasket District Ranger Mark Morris said it’s obvious to him that it’s a good move environmentally. He said firewood cutters have already taken out much of the fuel good for wood stoves.

"We have a strong desire to do something other than burning all these piles," he said. "I would say, the vast majority is an environmental plus."

Wiggins calculated that 15,000 tons of wood slash burned in an open pile would create more than 5 million pounds of carbon monoxide, and 377,900 pounds of particulate smoke and ash.

Because the Avista biomass facility provides complete combustion of the wood waste, the plant will reduce the carbon monoxide output by 98.6 percent, and particulate pollution by 99.8 percent, he said. "Hardly anything slips through our pollution-control equipment."

The Forest Service won’t know the precise cost until after ABCO Wood Recycling is finished chipping the wood piles, but the average cost is $6.50 per ton, Flatten said.

He said he’s hoping that cost will drop as more companies get involved in bidding for these projects.

"This is our opportunity to learn. It’s exciting to see something happening after talking about it for so long," he said of using forest debris for biomass.

After awarding this contract, 12 other companies entered into agreements with the Forest Service and will have an option to bid on other projects as they come up in the Okanogan-Wenatchee and Colville national forests.

The Forest Service plans to spend up to $5 million, and projects will be dependent on finding funds, Flatten said.

He said he’s currently looking at slash in McFarland Creek in the Methow Valley as its next proposal, and has some in mind on the Naches and Wenatchee River ranger districts.

Tim Coleman, spokesman for the Colville office of Conservation Northwest, said his group supports removing slash and woody debris from the forest to make electricity, as long as they’re taking branches and not trees.

He said the environmental group would also discourage the practice if new companies start popping up to compete for woody debris.

K.C. Mehaffey: 997-2512

mehaffey@wenatcheeworld.com