Addressing Community Needs in Plumas County Through Wood - PowerPoint PPT Presentation

Addressing Community Needs in Plumas County Through Wood Utilization Presentation to SOFAR May 9. 2018 Jonathan Kusel, Ph.D.

Plumas County: Rural and Heavily Forested

Unhealthy Forests = Mortality, Fire, Compromised Watersheds Decline of Wood Products Industry = Loss of Wood Products Jobs Greenville Portola Westwood California National CDP CDP Unemploy- 12.2% 21.3% 16.5% 5.3% 4.6% ment Poverty 17.6% 21.0% 24.2% 16.3% 15.5% Rate Median HH $26,481 $33,098 $34,464 $61,818 $53,889 Income 2015 ACS estimates

Value of Increasing Wood Utilization • Reduce the risk of wildfire • Improve forest and watershed health • Improve air quality, reduce black carbon emissions • Revitalize the wood products industry, create jobs • Reduced reliance on fossil fuels • Stabilize heating costs

Plumas Energy Efficiency and Renewables Management Action Plan, 2013

Heating Challenges • No natural gas lines • Reliance on fossil fuels for heat • Price volatility • Aging facilities 1976 and 1949 boilers at Quincy HS And an Opportunity…. Wood-fired heat: • Stable, low heating costs • Local and abundant renewable fuel source • Outlet for low-value wood, reduce risk of wildfires, create jobs

Critical Facilities Identification and Assessment Biomass Thermal Opportunities Current Heating Costs Fuel Type Gallons Used Biomass Used Savings Portola District Heating Facility Eastern Plumas Heath Care $ 147,500.00 diesel fuel 37,000 400 bdt $25,075.00 Portola High School $ 79,500.00 heating oil 22,640 210 bdt $13,515.00 Portola City Hall $ 4,700.00 propane 2,582 15 bdt $799.00 Portola Library $ 5,500.00 propane 2,750 15 bdt $935.00 Portola USPS Building $ 4,000.00 propane 2,300 15 bdt $680.00 County HHS/FRC $ 135,000.00 electric/Prop. 17,000 200 bdt $45,000.00 USFS Supervisors Office $ 37,000.00 prop/fuel oil 11,500/3,260 100 bdt $24,500.00 USFS Mt. Hough RD $ 35,000.00 propane 14,340 115 bdt $20,625.00 Greenville K-12 School $ 112,500.00 diesel fuel 30,646 275 bdt $19,125.00 Chester Heating Facility Wildwood Asst. Living Fclty $ 60,000.00 propane 26,000 175 bdt $38,125.00 Seneca Hospital $ 80,000.00 diesel Fuel 21,000 210 bdt $53,750.00 Green Tons/Acre 10 to 15 Bone Dry Tons/Acre 8 to 12 Increased biomass utilization in Plumas County will Avg. price of chips (raw mtrl). $60.00 have the following annual results: Retail chips/bdt (thermal) $125.00 $197,129 Price of heat 83% County wide savings: Fossil fuel gallons offset: 170,018 Thermal Network Homes powered: 3000 Total biomass needed 1,705 bdt Tons of biomass used: 27,000 Acres treated 150 - 250 Acres treated: 2,250 - 3,500 3 MW CHP Total biomass needed 25,000 bdt KEY Acres treated 2,100 - 3,200 bdt: bone dry ton CHP combined heat and power

Efficient Development of emissions of Austrian Biomass Boilers, measured by the federal agency for agricultural engineering Wieselburg (BLT)

Clean Development of emissions of Austrian Biomass Boilers, measured by the federal agency for agricultural engineering Wieselburg (BLT)

Emissions based on burning 5,000 BDT of biomass Springsteen, et al. 2011. Emission Reductions from Woody Biomass Waste for Energy as an Alternative to Pile Burning. Journal of Air and Waste Management . 61:63-68

First success! Plumas County Health and Human Services Center à $2.3M CA Energy Commission grant, 2015 • Biomass boiler + Organic Rankine Cycle power • Heat for building • Power generation to offset electrical costs • 400-500 bone dry tons/year • Boiler building of CLT à Replacement for failing geothermal system

System overview Hot water Warm water 220º F 80ºF F º 0 6 Photo credits: Wisewood Energy Power revenue and $ savings

Using local resources— all construction contracts awarded within Plumas County $1,000,000 into the local economy

Cross laminated timber building construction—December 2017 All panels up in 2 days!

Mid-January: equipment finally arrives in Quincy!

What’s next? Installation: final touches Control wiring: 2-3 weeks Commissioning: in progress Ribbon Cutting April 6 th

Building out the network • What is Sierra Institute’s role? • Promote replicability • Act as resource • Share lessons learned • Build capacity • Feasibility studies completed: • Plumas District Hospital • Quincy Jr/Sr High School • Plumas National Forest Supervisor’s Office • Eastern Plumas Health Care • Next: Quincy High School full engineering • USFS Wood Innovations grant Facility Services Director touring similar system in Burns

Former LP mill site redevelopment— Crescent Mills

Brownfield and liability issues

Small scale bioenergy • CA SB 1122: Bioenergy Market Adjusting Tariff (BioMat) • 3 MW direct combustion system • Electricity sales to PG&E • Challenge is making a 3 MW bioenergy plant economical Photo credit: • Need heat use and co-product Schatz Energy development Research Center

Low-grade heat using co-products • Firewood • Dried, packaged • Wood chips • Plumas Co. biomass boiler network • Urban playground chips • Greenhouse • Cross laminated timber production facility • first in CA

Key Point: Increased manufacturing capacity critical to addressing fire risk and tree mortality • Importance of community-scale • Local job creation • Getting businesses to stay and not move to Central Valley Forest restoration is an opportunity rebuild local economies based on sustainable forest management and business development.

Cl Closing Thoughts 1) The cycle of work is too slow. 2) Collaboration is here to stay. 3) Funding is coming. (Are you ready?) 4) Will we invest in local infrastructure and human capital in rural communities?

SIERRA INSTITUTE FOR COMMUNITY AND ENVIRONMENT Working Together to Help Rural Communities Thrive. Thank you. Jonathan Kusel and Camille Swezy jkusel@sierrainstitute.us cswezy@sierrainstitute.us (530) 284-1022