A 2009 report presents summaries of case studies on current challenges and opportunities in woody biomass utilization. Two of these studies occurred in Colorado. Following is a synopsis of findings and conclusions from the report.

Report Presents Insights on Woody Biomass Utilization in Colorado

In the summer 2008, the authors met with and interviewed several CoWood utilization and marketing staff, industry representatives, federal and local government officials, and community organizers along the northern Front Range and in southern Colorado.

The interviews with these individuals, who are on the front lines of woody biomass utilization in Colorado, revealed various perspectives, making this report particularly useful.

The report is available at http://www.forestry.umn.edu/publications/staffpapers/index.html.

Report Overview

There are a number of challenges to biomass utilization which varies from region to region, nationwide or statewide. The lack of biomass processing capacity may impede progress in one area while another has an inconsistent supply for the wood products markets. Woody biomass utilization in Colorado, and other states, must address the uncertainty surrounding the effectiveness of public and private entities to build sustainable partnerships focusing on biomass removal from forested lands.

Objectives

1. Examine all aspects of biomass utilization strategies already developed in regions with varied resources and wildfire risks.
2. Identify the types of utilization activities, focusing on agency, industry and community factors that contributed to the projects accomplishment
3. To identify key challenges to biomass utilization faced by each project and the strategies used to overcome them
4. Assess the roles of collaborative partnerships in hazardous fuel reduction planning, implementation and capacity building for biomass utilization

Colorado Case Studies

Northern Colorado Front Range

• The study included Larimer and Boulder counties, the Arapaho-Roosevelt National Forest, Boulder Parks and Open Space, Denver Water and several municipalities, including Fort Collins, Boulder, Loveland and Longmont.
• The focus is on local markets for animal bedding, post and pole, compost and firewood.
• The study illustrates the complexity of increasing biomass utilization within the wildland-urban interface.
• The scope of biomass utilization along the Front Range is limited; some businesses exist although on a small scale.
• The Boulder Parks and Open Space building is 95,000 square feet and heated with wood chips. To heat this building requires 600-700 tons of dirty chips (approximately 30 truck loads per year or 30,000 acres of treated forests). The cost to install the boiler was $260,000.

Southwest Colorado

• The study included San Juan Public Lands, home to the Southern Ute tribe, and the communities of Durango, Cortez, Dolores and Pagosa Springs.
• The focus is on utilization of firewood and nontraditional markets.
• The expansion of low-value markets for firewood represents one of the few areas where biomass utilization has been ongoing and consistent.
• By exploring nontraditional markets, businesses like Excelsior (in business since 1940) can remain competitive and productive.

Participant Interviews

• "You don't have a healthy market until you have producers and users occupying all the various product niches. You don't have a healthy market by just having a few of the folks that are the bottom-feeders that use the low value [material]. (Northern Colorado Front Range #27)
• "They want to build biomass plants and they want to build pellet plants. But we brought a fellow out on a "show-me" trip last summer, and he just said basically, 'Your road system is awful. Your ground is steep, your ground is rocky, your road system is awful. You've got plenty of material; yes I see it. But how can I get it? I can do it, but it's going to cost you, you're going to mortgage the farm here.'" (Northern Colorado Front Range #19)
• "We generally support community-based projects and we're talking about typically facility-heating projects that run in the range of 500 to 1,000 ton supply requirements annually. That seems to be a scale that can work well, and they can draw their material from a variety of sources. They can set up collection sites and have private landowners bring their material to them." (Northern Colorado Front Range #28)
• "So we did a bunch of research...[and] came to the conclusion that most people have, which is that forest product biomass is primarily useful for thermal, not for electricity. And so we've been working at the county level. I've made independent, individual lists for all ten counties and said, "Got any public buildings that you're about to put on-line?" Consider this." (Northern Colorado Front Range #22)
• "This fellow had the foresight to see that the logging industry in northern Colorado was dying...He retooled his whole operation." (Northern Colorado Front Range)
• "I'm always cautious to start something up that's going to exist on a subsidy because then you set it up for failure." (Northern Colorado Front Range #27)
• "This particular office is only a year and a half old, and it was scheduled to have a cogeneration plant to utilize biomass for its heating systems...And it did not receive any support for that cogeneration...now we're getting a couple solar panels and a little wind generator to make things right. I mean, it's sad, it's very sad. I mean, it's government, and we ...should lead the way..." (Southwest Colorado #108)
• "Well, one thing is the Forest Service can't do it alone. I was talking about that before; we just don't have the expertise. So you need to get the state folks involved. You need to get the county folks involved. You know, it has to be a partnership with a lot of things happening. And you need to get the industry folks involved, so that, you know it's a joint effort in making it happen." (Northern Colorado Front Range #18)
• "We have some environmental groups that comment on just about every one of our NEPA actions. For the most part, they support fuels reduction and forest health treatments...I think that we've worked really hard to work with these groups...to develop trust and credibility." (Southwest Colorado #113).
• "Everything now is devoted to trying to pay the fire bill, not the forest management bill." (Northern Colorado Front Range #20)

Read more from the report...