http://ucanr.org/blogs/WoodyBiomass/?utm_source=RSS&utm_medium=RSS&utm_campaign=RSS%2BFeed News and information on woody biomass utilization in California en-us UC ANR http://cyber.law.harvard.edu/rss/ Thu, 02 Feb 2012 10:38:02 PST Thu, 02 Feb 2012 10:38:02 PST
]]> Thu, 02 Feb 2012 10:38:01 PST http://ucanr.org/blogs/blogcore/postdetail.cfm?postnum=6597&utm_source=RSS&utm_medium=RSS&utm_campaign=RSS%2BFeed gmayhead@berkeley.edu(Gareth J Mayhead) http://ucanr.org/blogs/blogcore/postdetail.cfm?postnum=6597 Last week I was fortunate enough to attend two excellent meetings that focused on different aspects of forest products and biomass utilization.  The first was the Restoring the West Conference held at the Utah State University Campus in Logan.  The conference was sub-titled “sustaining forests, woodlands and communities through biomass use” and covered a wide range of topics ranging from forest and range management to marketing and biomass utilization technologies.  The focus was very much on...
]]> Fri, 28 Oct 2011 13:36:31 PST http://ucanr.org/blogs/blogcore/postdetail.cfm?postnum=6087&utm_source=RSS&utm_medium=RSS&utm_campaign=RSS%2BFeed gmayhead@berkeley.edu(Gareth J Mayhead) http://ucanr.org/blogs/blogcore/postdetail.cfm?postnum=6087 Potential changes to Feed-in Tariffs (Public Utilities Code: 399.20)Feed-in tariffs in California allow a small renewable electricity generator (including those fueled by biomass) to sell electricity to a utility at predefined terms and conditions, without contract negotiations.  The current rules mean that there is no price incentive in the rate paid for electricity.  Price is linked to the Market Price Referent (MPR) which the CPUC determines by the long-term ownership, operating, and...
]]> Fri, 02 Sep 2011 08:39:29 PST http://ucanr.org/blogs/blogcore/postdetail.cfm?postnum=5626&utm_source=RSS&utm_medium=RSS&utm_campaign=RSS%2BFeed gmayhead@berkeley.edu(Gareth J Mayhead) http://ucanr.org/blogs/blogcore/postdetail.cfm?postnum=5626 SB489 – Modification of Net Energy Metering (NEM) This bill which would open up NEM tariffs to include renewables other than wind, solar, biogas, and fuel cell generation.  NEM allows a customer-generator to receive a financial credit for power generated by their onsite system and fed back to the utility.  The credit is used to offset the customer's electricity bill.  Up until now biomass to electricity facilities were not eligible for the tariffs.  According to KQED News “It won...
]]> Wed, 31 Aug 2011 09:39:49 PST http://ucanr.org/blogs/blogcore/postdetail.cfm?postnum=5625&utm_source=RSS&utm_medium=RSS&utm_campaign=RSS%2BFeed gmayhead@berkeley.edu(Gareth J Mayhead) http://ucanr.org/blogs/blogcore/postdetail.cfm?postnum=5625 There are a number of changes either approved or proposed for some of the California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC) renewable energy programs that may be beneficial for biomass to electricity projects.  This post will briefly look at the Renewable Auction Mechanism rules that have been adopted recently.  Follow-up posts will cover a proposal to modify Net Energy Metering and potential changes to Feed-in Tariffs.  Renewable Auction Mechanism (RAM)These rules adopted on August 18 2011 by the...
]]> Mon, 29 Aug 2011 08:02:07 PST http://ucanr.org/blogs/blogcore/postdetail.cfm?postnum=5622&utm_source=RSS&utm_medium=RSS&utm_campaign=RSS%2BFeed gmayhead@berkeley.edu(Gareth J Mayhead) http://ucanr.org/blogs/blogcore/postdetail.cfm?postnum=5622 We are frequently asked if we have copies of previous woody biomass utilization feasibility studies available.  As a result we have added a number of feasibility studies and other reports to the grants pages of the Woody Biomass Website.  These were funded by the California Association of Resource Conservation & Development Councils (CARC&DC) between 2007 and 2010.  Funding came from the Forest Service State & Private Forestry.  The 12 reports cover a range of topics and are a great...
]]> Mon, 27 Jun 2011 07:32:52 PST http://ucanr.org/blogs/blogcore/postdetail.cfm?postnum=5204&utm_source=RSS&utm_medium=RSS&utm_campaign=RSS%2BFeed gmayhead@berkeley.edu(Gareth J Mayhead) http://ucanr.org/blogs/blogcore/postdetail.cfm?postnum=5204 Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack today announced the successful projects that will receive almost $3m in funding from the 2011 Forest Service Woody Biomass Utilization Grant program.  This year the program objective was to fund advanced engineering studies for woody biomass to energy projects.  Nationally 17 projects were selected for funding, including 3 from California, from a total of 34 submitted.  The successful projects are listed below and locations are shown on the...
]]> Wed, 22 Jun 2011 22:19:35 PST http://ucanr.org/blogs/blogcore/postdetail.cfm?postnum=5184&utm_source=RSS&utm_medium=RSS&utm_campaign=RSS%2BFeed gmayhead@berkeley.edu(Gareth J Mayhead) http://ucanr.org/blogs/blogcore/postdetail.cfm?postnum=5184 We have added to the hardwood utilization section on the Woody Biomass Utilization website.  The new information is from previous projects undertaken at the University of California Forest Products Laboratory. California has a huge hardwood resource that is mostly underutilized.  For example, in the redwood growing regions tanoak is regarded as a "weed" despite the fact that it can be cut into beautiful and versatile lumber products. For an introduction to the issues check out the California...
]]> Mon, 13 Jun 2011 10:27:58 PST http://ucanr.org/blogs/blogcore/postdetail.cfm?postnum=5094&utm_source=RSS&utm_medium=RSS&utm_campaign=RSS%2BFeed gmayhead@berkeley.edu(Gareth J Mayhead) http://ucanr.org/blogs/blogcore/postdetail.cfm?postnum=5094 Last week I was with Tad Mason of TSS Consultants at the old sawmill site in North Fork, near to the geographic center of California.  We were investigating options for the processing of woody biomass from local forests on the site.  We were fortunate enough to meet with Marc Mandel of Crossroads Recycled Lumber which is a reclaimed lumber business located on part of the site.  The primary source of wood is building deconstruction projects in California and other locations across the US.  It...
]]> Mon, 06 Jun 2011 15:51:44 PST http://ucanr.org/blogs/blogcore/postdetail.cfm?postnum=5041&utm_source=RSS&utm_medium=RSS&utm_campaign=RSS%2BFeed gmayhead@berkeley.edu(Gareth J Mayhead) http://ucanr.org/blogs/blogcore/postdetail.cfm?postnum=5041 One of the more unusual uses for woody biomass is in bio-filtration.  In this example the wood chips are used to form a bed and malodorous air is fed through to remove the offensive smell.  Facilities that need this kind of filtration include sewage treatment plants and waste processing facilities.  There are a number of examples in California including the facility pictured that processes municipal solid waste.  How does it work?In the filter shown the material is 8 ft deep and arranged in 24...
]]> Mon, 16 May 2011 09:27:07 PST http://ucanr.org/blogs/blogcore/postdetail.cfm?postnum=4862&utm_source=RSS&utm_medium=RSS&utm_campaign=RSS%2BFeed gmayhead@berkeley.edu(Gareth J Mayhead) http://ucanr.org/blogs/blogcore/postdetail.cfm?postnum=4862 A couple of weeks ago the Forest Products Society Pacific Southwest Section toured the Cathedral of Christ the Light in Oakland.  This stunning building, completed in 2008, is the headquarters for the Diocese of Oakland.  It replaced the Cathedral of St Francis de Sales that was damaged beyond repair in the 1989 Loma Prieta earthquake. The $180m Cathedral is on a 2.5 acre site on the shore of Lake Merritt and was designed by Skidmore Owings & Merrill (SOM).  It is a showcase for the use of...
]]> Mon, 09 May 2011 14:57:17 PST http://ucanr.org/blogs/blogcore/postdetail.cfm?postnum=4828&utm_source=RSS&utm_medium=RSS&utm_campaign=RSS%2BFeed gmayhead@berkeley.edu(Gareth J Mayhead) http://ucanr.org/blogs/blogcore/postdetail.cfm?postnum=4828 I attended the “Wildfire 2” (AKA Building on Science to Implement Landscape Level Treatments for Fire Resilience) conference in McClellan last week.  The conference, organized by UC Cooperative Extension and the Forest Service, was a follow-up to the Pre- and Post-Wildfire Forest Management Conference held in February 2010.  Wildfire 2 built on the foundations of knowledge presented at the first conference and aimed to look at some of the broader social sustainability impacts of collaboratively...
]]> Mon, 02 May 2011 16:15:25 PST http://ucanr.org/blogs/blogcore/postdetail.cfm?postnum=4774&utm_source=RSS&utm_medium=RSS&utm_campaign=RSS%2BFeed gmayhead@berkeley.edu(Gareth J Mayhead) http://ucanr.org/blogs/blogcore/postdetail.cfm?postnum=4774 The UC Woody Biomass Utilization Website has been redesigned and has a new more user friendly look and navigation.  Check it out at:  http://ucanr.org/WoodyBiomass.  The Woody Biomass Blog has also changed its appearance: http://ucanr.org/blogs/WoodyBiomass.  The new blog site is easier to search and use. The website was created in Sitebuilder 3.0 and allows greater integration of useful information and the use of outside sources such as Twitter.  What do you think about the new look?  Is it...
]]> Fri, 08 Apr 2011 15:36:27 PST http://ucanr.org/blogs/blogcore/postdetail.cfm?postnum=4570&utm_source=RSS&utm_medium=RSS&utm_campaign=RSS%2BFeed gmayhead@berkeley.edu(Gareth J Mayhead) http://ucanr.org/blogs/blogcore/postdetail.cfm?postnum=4570 The Redwood Region Logging Conference was held from March 17-19 2011 at Redwood Acres Fairgrounds in Eureka.  The event was well attended despite the wet and cold weather. Forestry and construction equipment greets visitors to the 73rd annual RRLC Gareth Mayhead from the University of California Woody Biomass Utilization Group gave a class on Woody Biomass Utilization Opportunities on Friday morning.  We looked at the broad policy landscape, trends in California and grant opportunities...
]]> Mon, 21 Mar 2011 16:19:19 PST http://ucanr.org/blogs/blogcore/postdetail.cfm?postnum=4437&utm_source=RSS&utm_medium=RSS&utm_campaign=RSS%2BFeed gmayhead@berkeley.edu(Gareth J Mayhead) http://ucanr.org/blogs/blogcore/postdetail.cfm?postnum=4437
]]> Mon, 24 Jan 2011 11:50:29 PST http://ucanr.org/blogs/blogcore/postdetail.cfm?postnum=4110&utm_source=RSS&utm_medium=RSS&utm_campaign=RSS%2BFeed rsnell@berkeley.edu(Rebecca Snell) http://ucanr.org/blogs/blogcore/postdetail.cfm?postnum=4110
]]> Tue, 18 Jan 2011 12:58:49 PST http://ucanr.org/blogs/blogcore/postdetail.cfm?postnum=4079&utm_source=RSS&utm_medium=RSS&utm_campaign=RSS%2BFeed rsnell@berkeley.edu(Rebecca Snell) http://ucanr.org/blogs/blogcore/postdetail.cfm?postnum=4079 Registration is now closed for Thursday's (December 2nd) Woody Biomass to Energy workshop in Ukiah.  If you have registered for this workshop you will receive an e-mail with final details on Wednesday. See you on Thursday.
]]> Tue, 30 Nov 2010 21:17:50 PST http://ucanr.org/blogs/blogcore/postdetail.cfm?postnum=3853&utm_source=RSS&utm_medium=RSS&utm_campaign=RSS%2BFeed gmayhead@berkeley.edu(Gareth J Mayhead) http://ucanr.org/blogs/blogcore/postdetail.cfm?postnum=3853
]]> Fri, 12 Nov 2010 15:27:34 PST http://ucanr.org/blogs/blogcore/postdetail.cfm?postnum=3781&utm_source=RSS&utm_medium=RSS&utm_campaign=RSS%2BFeed gmayhead@berkeley.edu(Gareth J Mayhead) http://ucanr.org/blogs/blogcore/postdetail.cfm?postnum=3781
]]> Mon, 01 Nov 2010 08:57:08 PST http://ucanr.org/blogs/blogcore/postdetail.cfm?postnum=3710&utm_source=RSS&utm_medium=RSS&utm_campaign=RSS%2BFeed gmayhead@berkeley.edu(Gareth J Mayhead) http://ucanr.org/blogs/blogcore/postdetail.cfm?postnum=3710 Presentations from the 2 workshops held last week are now available online.  Over 20 people attended the 2 hour densified wood fuels session in Eureka on October 18.  Presentations are here: http://ucanr.org/EurekaOct2010.  We started with the basics of densified wood fuels (including pellets, fire logs and bricks) followed by a look at some real projects including Red Rooster Fuels; a local company that has been manufacturing pellets. A full day workshop, attended by over 60, was held on...
]]> Thu, 28 Oct 2010 10:37:32 PST http://ucanr.org/blogs/blogcore/postdetail.cfm?postnum=3696&utm_source=RSS&utm_medium=RSS&utm_campaign=RSS%2BFeed gmayhead@berkeley.edu(Gareth J Mayhead) http://ucanr.org/blogs/blogcore/postdetail.cfm?postnum=3696