SHAME ON SONOMA “CLEAN” POWER: “Biomass incinerators represent some of the dirtiest stationary sources of criteria pollutants in a state plagued by poor air quality. These incinerators emit more CO2 than fracked gas and, in some cases, more than coal. Biomass incineration is an unacceptable, unimaginative solution to an important issue. This report explores how to use biomass in a low-impact, sustainable way and move California beyond biomass incineration.”
Moving Beyond Incineration:
Putting residues from California forest management and restoration to good use
Sierra Club California
November 2019
Table of Contents
1. Executive Summary 3
2. Introduction 4
2.1. Forest restoration and fire management efforts in California 4
2.2. Residues from forest management 5
2.3. Bioelectricity in California 7
2.4. Market supports for biopower in California 9
2.4.1. Cost to Californians of the BioMAT and BioRAM Programs 10
2.5. Moving beyond incineration 12
3. Forestry residues in California 13
3.1. All California forest treatments 13
3.2. California Climate Investment forest health projects 15
4. Non-incineration pathways for forest residues in California 16
4.1. Wood chips, mulches, and shavings 19
4.1.1. Market characteristics 19
4.1.2. Environmental characteristics 21
4.2. Post and pole 21
4.2.1. Market characteristics 22
4.2.2. Environmental characteristics 22
4.3. Fiberboard, particleboard, and oriented strand board 22
4.3.1. Market characteristics 23
4.3.2. Environmental characteristics 24
4.4. Mass timber 25
4.4.1. Market characteristics 27
4.4.2. Environmental characteristics 28
4.5. Furniture and finish carpentry 28
4.6. Climate performance of alternate residue pathways 29
5. Conclusions
1. Executive Summary
Drought, pest infestation, wildland development and wildfire – all exacerbated by climate
change – have led to increasingly challenging conditions on the state’s forested landscapes. The persistence and visibility of these challenges in 2018 resulted in unprecedented funding for forest interventions. Defensible space treatments, the removal of dead trees near homes and infrastructure and community protection projects are all necessary to save home and lives during wildfires. CALFIRE and the California Natural Resources Agency favor mechanical thinning projects for forest health projects. These activities result in significant residual material in the form of traditionally non-merchantable wood, also known as biomass.
Sierra Club California continues to advocate for less-intensive forest interventions but
recognizes that there is existing and anticipated accumulation of orphan biomass. This biomass must be dealt with in a low-impact, sustainable way. The state has failed to leverage the most progressive, technologically advanced economy in the world to find and endorse low-impact uses for biomass. Instead, the state has propped up antiquated, pollution-producing biomass incinerators.
Biomass incinerators represent some of the dirtiest stationary sources of criteria pollutants in a state plagued by poor air quality. These incinerators emit more CO2 than fracked gas and, in some cases, more than coal. Biomass incineration is an unacceptable, unimaginative solution to an important issue. This report explores how to use biomass in a low-impact, sustainable way and move California beyond biomass incineration.
This report estimates tons of biomass expected to be generated in the foreseeable future and maps the areas where the most biomass will be removed. The report outlines the high cost of state policies that propped up existing incinerators (BioRAM) and look to spur a new generation of small incinerators (BioMAT). Finally, the report analyzes a number of biomass utilization methods investigating their marketability and environmental impact.
The report does not endorse a particular product or suite of products, instead it is intended to kickstart a more intensive, more heavily funded investigation by the state. The utilization
methods in this report are all preferable to incineration. However, the state must scrutinize
each method before spending public dollars to incentivize them or considering policy changes.
In a period of intense public anxiety about climate change, the state imprudently chose a
means of biomass utilization that emits substantial climate pollution, impacts local and regional air quality, displaces clean renewable energy and incinerates ratepayer dollars. There are better options and decision makers must move California beyond incineration.
2. Introduction
Drought, pest infestation, wildland development and wildfire – all exacerbated by climate
change – have led to increasingly challenging conditions on the state’s forested landscapes.
These challenges are also worsened by a history of intensive logging and aggressive fire
suppression. While there is a great deal of debate as to the optimal management regime for
forests and other wildlands, based on plans and statements from California state agencies,
there is little doubt that active thinning and fuels treatments will continue to take place in
California’s forestlands.
This management activity, in turn, creates an additional problem in the form of significant
residual woody biomass that must be dealt with on-site. Woody residues from logging,
thinning, and fire management activities in the State of California are typically left on site or
burned in piles, raising concerns of fire hazard and air quality impacts. Recognizing this
challenge, policymakers in Sacramento have sought to develop markets for these materials in order to facilitate their removal and even in hopes of improving the economics of the thinning treatments themselves.
Policymakers have turned to thermoelectric power generation as a key market for woody
biomass, and have been pursuing subsidy mechanisms to promote its further development in California and its uptake of forest residual feedstocks. The regulated nature of electric power markets makes this a seemingly attractive sector for policy intervention. However, electricity generation via biomass incineration can lead to significant environmental harm from local air pollution to increased carbon emissions. Furthermore, there are likely more environmentally and economically attractive uses for these residues, but these have not been sufficiently investigated or promoted as they do not have the advantage of an incumbent industry with existing infrastructure and political influence.
This report lays out the current state of woody biomass mobilization and use in California
today, and details pathway alternatives to incineration that could serve to reduce air pollution from open burning while also stopping the displacement of cleaner energy sources. We estimate the volumes of forest residues that are being created in California forests and investigate alternative economically viable pathways that could offer the greatest near-term uptake of residual biomass while minimizing criteria pollutant and greenhouse gas emissions while creating needed jobs in rural California.
2.1. Forest restoration and fire management efforts in California
The way California manages its forests and wildlands has important implications for public
safety, biodiversity conservation, water resource management, air quality, climate change, and the state’s economy. Because of these cross-cutting impacts, especially in the wake of two years of severe wildfires, significant political will and economic resources are now being mobilized in Sacramento to facilitate more active management of California’s forests.
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