In recent months, President Bush, Governor Ritter and many others have
expressed the need to promote renewable energy. Various sources of renewable
energy are being suggested including solar, wind, geothermal, corn and
other biomass. Each of these sources has advantages in different situations
and all of them will probably find a place within Colorado's renewable
energy efforts.
In Colorado, however, there is an abundant and almost entirely untapped
energy resource the use of which could not only provide many of the
advantages that the other sources provide, but could also improve the
safety and health of thousands of Colorado residents and enhance tourism
at the same time.
I'm talking about the use of forest biomass. Every year thousands of
tons of wood are amassed from wildfire mitigation efforts, Mountain
Pine Beetle infestation control, or blow downs, etc. Much of this wood
has little commercial value. However, if it is not removed from the
forest it increases the risk of destructive, life-threatening, and enormously
expensive wildfires, and provides a breeding ground for even more destructive
insect infestations. Plus dead trees are an eyesore that visitors to
our state find unappealing. So, every year around this time, the US
Forest Service, State Forest Service and numerous private forest landowners
pile up tons of potentially useful fuel and burn it in open fires. This
not only wastes a potential energy source, it pollutes our air creating
a health hazard.
On the other hand, Boulder County and a few other counties and local
municipalities have recognized that the technology exists to use forest
biomass as a clean, economical, and locally renewable fuel to heat public
buildings. Boulder Parks and Open Space has already built a facility
that uses fuel in the form of wood chips produced from forest waste
amassed during wildfire mitigation work on their open space property.
see: Biomass Tour This is not new and
untested technology. School districts, counties and municipalities around
the country have been using forest biomass successfully for some years,
see The
Best Thing to do with Colorado's Greatest Natural Resource - Burn It?
But clean, economical heating of public buildings isn't the only productive
use for forest biomass. In addition, there is a huge effort underway
to develop cellulosic ethanol. It is estimated that by 2012 Colorado
universities in collaboration with the NREL will have developed a commercially
viable way to produce ethanol from cellulose. When cellulose becomes
a viable source for ethanol there will be an enormous demand for it
and, as mentioned, Colorado, using sustainable forestry practices, has
an abundant, renewable source that is presently going to waste.
As with solar, wind or any alternative energy source, it is useless
to have it unless a reliable, efficient and economical infrastructure
to supply it to the public is available. The Colorado State Tree Farm
Committee is currently working with potential suppliers of forest biomass
throughout the state to organize such an infrastructure but they need
your help.
If you are a forest landowner, if you're involved in municipal, county
or state government, or if you are a businessman trying to reduce your
energy costs, you could play a meaningful role in reducing global warming,
reducing our dependence on foreign sources of energy, and reducing the
danger of devastating wildfire, while you improve the health and long
term sustainability of one of our greatest natural resources. If you
think that is worth a little of your time and energy, please write wes@treefarmer.com for specific details.
Thanks for your time,
Wes Rutt
Forest Biomass Chair, Colorado State Tree Farm Committee
