Woody Biomass Plant in La Pine Scheduled for Completion in 2011

New Biomass Power Plant to Bring Jobs to La Pine
By Doug Johnson – KOHD-TV News – June 29, 2009
 
In 18 months 10 acres on the corner of Reed Road and Mitts Way in La Pine, will be transformed into a biomass power plant, able to produce almost twenty megawatts of electricity. The plans were approved Monday morning, by the Deschutes County Board of Commissioners.
 
“Going to add to the economy, going to create jobs, they’re going to produce steam, that will maybe be able to use in other applications, other businesses,” says Susan Ross, Director of Property and Facilities for Deschutes County.
 
Biogreen Sustainable Energy out of St. Helens Oregon will build and operate the plant. It expects the plant to bring twenty direct jobs, with as many as ninety indirect jobs such as trucking and forestry to follow. In addition, the company says about one hundred construction jobs should be created in the next four months.

Woody Biomass Energy: Another Corn Ethanol Debacle?

Unfortunately the following article jumps all over the place, tries but fails to be “fair and balanced”, and approaches a modestly complex subject too simplistically. Part of the role of journalism is to educate readers and to give them intellectual tools for thought and does not give both sides of an argument equal weight when it is not so (i.e. fire suppression is many times a greater culprit for our unhealthy forests than an environmental opposition to logging). 

For just one example, instead of writing the following sentence: They say once you start transporting biomass by truck, or train, or ship, you lose the benefits of biomass because the closer the power plants can be to the forests, the better off you are,  it would be much better to explain WHY you would be better off by explaining the concept of Distributed Generation. And by the way, just who is the “They” who say this?

Just as there are worthwhile ways to turn foodstuffs into energy (biofuels made from “waste” cooking grease) there are worthwhile ways to turn woody biomass into energy (locally produced energy from “waste” wood left over from harvesting timber and from the manufacture of products from that timber).  But growing a corn, a valuble foodstuff, specifically to make ethanol or cutting down trees to burn to make electricity simply does not make sense environmentally or economically. The ethanol industry has clearly proven that this approach to “clean” energy is folly.

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Could Oregon’s Trees Make Us Energy Exporter?
By Ethan Lindsey – OPB News – June 22, 2009

The dictionary defines biomass as living matter in one area.

But the second definition for biomass is what could give Oregon a leading role in the next century.

“Plant materials and animal waste used a source of fuel.”

Using plant and tree materials for energy is good news for Oregon.

Half of the state is forest-land.

But like this national forest between Bend and Sisters, many of Oregon’s forests are unhealthy.

Between a century of fire suppression and decades of environmental opposition to logging – the tree stands here are too thick and too dry.

Centron Solar Sales Reps Job Listed Across the U.S.

The Craigslist post below is typical of the sales reps jobs available postings across the U.S. by Centron Solar.  A quick search found Craigslist posting in Philadelphia as well as a listing on Monster.com and Indeed.com.

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Sales Reps for Solar Modules: Big Money (Anywhere There Is A Sunshine)

Reply to: oyuan@centronsolar.com
Date: 2009-06-16, 9:51AM EDT

Independent Sales Reps for Solar Modules – All Regions in North America
About the Job

Description:

Centron Solar is the first and only large scale consortium of solar
manufacturers providing high quality, low cost mono- and
poly-crystalline solar modules. Headquartered in Eugene, Oregon, USA,
Centron Solar revolutionize how solar modules are sold in the
marketplace, hence bringing unprecedented financial benefits to
installers, system integrators and project developers alike in North
America.

Oregon is a National Green Jobs Leader

Green and on top
By Andrew Moore - The Bulletin – June 14, 2009

Solar. Wind. Water. Geothermal, biomass and even garbage. With all these opportunities, it’s no wonder Oregon leads the nation in clean energy. And based on the number of alternative energy firms sprouting up in Central Oregon, it seems only natural that growth in green jobs has far outpaced the national average.

Rod Page, who lives just north of Bend, is concerned about the nation’s energy consumption. Accordingly, he drives a biodiesel-fueled car and later this week will have solar panels installed on his roof to help power his home.

He’s wanted to install them for more than two years, but found it cost-prohibitive. Now, thanks to state and federal tax credits, the cost has come down enough to make economic sense for Page.

But this isn’t really a story about solar power. It’s about the demand created by folks like Page who are helping to fuel rising employment in the clean-energy sector.

In other words, green jobs.

According to a report released Wednesday by The Pew Charitable Trusts, a Philadelphia-based nonprofit, jobs in the country’s clean-energy sector grew at a rate of 9.1 percent between 1998 and 2007, compared with total job growth of only 3.7 percent in the same period.

In Oregon, the number is greater. According to the report, jobs in Oregon’s clean-energy sector grew at a rate of 50.7 percent between 1998 and 2007, compared with total job growth of 7.5 percent in the same period. That means Oregon, with upwards of 1,600 clean-energy companies, has more green jobs than any other state.

Progress Made on Building-Integrated Photovoltaics

Energy lab says flat solar panels may be option
by Eric Mortenson – The Oregonian – June 12, 2009

Flat solar panels could fit on roofs like shingles. A transparent thin film barrier used to protect flat panel TVs from moisture could become the basis for flexible solar panels that would be installed on roofs like shingles.

Researchers at the Department of Energy’s Pacific Northwest National Laboratory in Richland, Wash., are working on flexible rooftop solar panels.

The panels — called building-integrated photovoltaics, or BIPVs — could replace boxy solar panels that are made with rigid glass or silicon and mounted on thick metal frames. The flexible solar shingles would be less expensive to install than current panels, and made to last 25 years.

“There’s a lot of wasted space on rooftops that could actually be used to generate power,” senior scientist Mark Gross said in a news release. “Flexible solar panels could easily become integrated into the architecture of commercial buildings and homes. Solar panels have had limited success because they’ve been difficult and expensive to install.”

Researchers at PNNL will create these flexible panels by adapting a film encapsulation process currently used to coat flat panel displays that use organic light-emitting diodes, or OLEDs. The work is made possible by a Cooperative Research and Development Agreement recently penned between Vitex Systems and Battelle, which operates PNNL for the federal government.

Laboratory researchers developed the thin film technology in the 1990s. At the time, the lab’s team investigated 15 possible applications, including solar power. Vitex licensed the technology from Battelle in 2000 and focused its initial efforts on developing the ultra-barrier films for flat-panel displays. Now PNNL and Vitex are taking a hard second look at solar power.

Natural Gas Pipeline Route Change Studied

No matter which route this proposed natural gas pipeline takes across Oregon it still remains a roundabout way to get natural gas to California since California refused to let pipelines be built on its shores and across its lands.  [For more details and a map of this proposed pipeline read the blog post dated March 24, 2008 titled "Proposed Natural Gas Pipeline Would Cut Across Half of Oregon"]

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Alternate gas routes studied in Eastern Oregon
Associated Press – June 11, 2009
 
A gas pipeline company says it is considering two alternates to a route that would cross the Deschutes River at a stretch designated as wild and scenic.

Officials of the Warm Springs Indian Reservation asked Palomar Gas Transmission to consider alternatives to a crossing north of Maupin.

The company has proposed one alternative that would cut through Maupin and another, farther south, that would cross the reservation. It plans public hearings later in the month.

The alternates are at the eastern end of a 220-mile line that would run from an import terminal proposed near Astoria to an existing trunk line.

Palomar is a project of the gas utility NW Natural and TransCanada, a pipeline company based in Alberta.

Bend to Consider Tumalo Creek Hydro Project

While the jury is out on this idea – there is a scheduled feasibility report due later this summer – it pains CO Renewable that before it is more than an idea the anti-tax folk start a negativity campaign.  The only way Central Oregon – or the nation for that matter – will wean its way off of energy produced outside of our boundaries is to build local power production facilities and incorporate them into a Distributed Generation energy system.  And the only way such a thing can happen is for money to be raised by the eventual users – local taxpayers – via some sort of  tax so these renewable energy projects can be built.

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Bend Considers Building A Hydroelectric Project On Tumalo Creek
By Ethan Lindsey – OPB News – June 10,2009

Many cities and irrigation districts across the state have developed new plans to build small-scale hydroelectric projects.

These aren’t your grandparents’ dams – they are smaller generators — on pipes — that take advantage of the energy in the stream flow.

Solar: A Rich Man Only Renewable Energy?

The very last sentence of this article notes that the “Oregon legislature is currently considering a five-year pilot program to try out the [feed-in tariff] model.”  This is potentially good news but until Oregon and all other states adopt a system where energy can be sold to utility companies at a rate that is high enough to make all sizes of solar installations “profitable”,  like Germany for example, solar will continue to lag behind wind and other renewable energy sources.

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Is Solar Power Only A Rich Man’s Renewable Source?
By Rob Manning – OPB News – June 8, 2009

Turning energy from the sun into electricity is one of the keys to saving the earth, according to renewable power advocates, and if solar is going to take off in the Northwest, it will mean re-shaping our relationship with energy.

Solar energy is considered an intermittent resource, although one of the more predictable ones, since you know it produces electricity only when the sun is up.

And solar is about as renewable as it gets – when the sun comes up, the rays get captured in panels and converted into energy.

Even factoring in the cost of producing the panels, solar energy is several times more efficient than fossil fuels. And unlike wind — which can kill birds — or hydro — which can kill fish — there’s no known collateral damage from solar installations.

But right now, solar doesn’t even register as one of the seven biggest sources of electricity in Oregon.

Eugene Mayor Supports Seneca Biomass Cogeneration Plant

Seneca deserves a chance to prove its biomass utilization works
Project raises tough questions, but proposal looks sustainable 
By Kitty Piercy – Editorial For The Register-Guard – Jun 7, 2009

The state of Oregon and the Obama administration both support biomass utilization to reduce carbon emissions and our dependence on fossil fuels. Seneca Sawmill Co. is proposing a biomass cogeneration facility that will use residue from timber manufacturing and slash from logging operations, which would otherwise be burned in open air, to produce energy for the company and the broader community.

Nothing is without controversy, especially the environmental effects of energy production — whether it is solar, wind, geothermal or biomass. Toxins are created in manufacturing, human and wildlife populations are affected, and other effects require monitoring and mitigation.

There are legitimate questions about the potential effects of biomass utilization on forest protection, air quality and issues of environmental justice. Seneca itself has generated controversies in the past due to some forest practices and political positions.

I am committed to sustainability, and have asked Eugene area businesses to step forward. At the same time I want to responsibly understand the impacts of all the steps we take.

I asked for answers about the Seneca proposal from experts in forest protection and management, state environmental quality and energy oversight, sociology, sustainability, utilities, air quality protection, toxics, and environmental justice. I also talked to neighbors of the proposed facility.

Here are the answers I received. I don’t claim these answers address all concerns, but they’ve helped me reach my own conclusions.

Is Converting Garbage to Gas & Glass Green?

Garbage never smelled so sweet
InEnTec of Bend has partnered with Waste Management Inc. to build its trash-to-gas machines at landfills across the country. The result could be a renewable energy dream — and InEnTec is promising big returns for Central Oregon, in the form of green energy.
By Andrew Moore – The Bulletin – June 07, 2009

[To learn more about ‘Melting’ garbage: How it works see end of article.]

Two weeks ago, Bend-based InEnTec LLC announced a joint venture with Houston-based Waste Management Inc., a Fortune 500 company with more than $13 billion in revenues.

While a big step for privately held InEnTec, a small waste-to-energy company that relocated to Bend last year from Richland, Wash., it also promises big returns for Central Oregon.

The new joint venture, called S4 Energy Solutions LLC, will be based in Houston but is opening an office in The Old Mill District, adjacent to InEnTec’s office. S4 will eventually employ more than 20 chemical and other engineers, generally earning more than $100,000 a year, according to Jeff Surma, a founder of InEnTec and S4’s first CEO.

They are the sort of high-paying green jobs that politicians love to promise, working with technology that turns everyday garbage into fuel and other products without any harmful emissions. But InEnTec hasn’t been visited by presidential candidates promoting renewable energy, or sitting senators touting the green spending in the stimulus bill.