As the local paper industry fades, the North Country is increasingly looking at alternatives.
One of them is biomass plants that would burn wood to produce electricity and heat.
But a new study says there isn't enough wood to meet the demand of all those plants.
NHPR Correspondent Chris Jensen has the story.
These days many in the North Country seem to be pinning their hopes on biomass plants.
The generators would burn North Country wood to provide North Country jobs while selling the electricity to other areas.
Not so fast.
A new study of the wood available in Coos was just released.
It notes predictions are tricky because there are so many variables. But one thing comes through.
“The conclusion that there is probably not enough chips for all of those projects to go forward is a reasonable conclusion.”
That is Jeff Hayes who is with the North Country Council.
It worked with the state’s Division of Forests and Lands and commissioned the study.
But some say the study’s conclusion isn’t a bad thing.
First, there was no guarantee all those projects would go ahead.
So, there is still room for some biomass in the North Country.
Peter Riviere heads up the Coos Economic Development Corp.
“It doesn’t rule it out, it just puts it in scale, in a more reasonable scale I think instead of a hyped projection it is a real projection.”
Riviere says the logging industry will have the same amount of work. The issue is simply where the wood goes.
Mel Liston is the president of Clean Power Development which is working on a biomass plant in Berlin.
Liston says the conclusions of the new study match up pretty well with a study his company commissioned.
That’s why he already scaled the plant back back from 45 megawatts to around 25.
“We certainly don’t want to create a demand that will exceed what the forest can supply.”
Jeff Hayes at the North Country Council says Coos is lucky so many corporations want to open plants up here.
The study will help to decide what will work best.
Peter Riviere with the Coos Economic Development Corp called the research valuable for another reason.
It indicates the north country should move ahead and explore other alternatives.
“I think it gives us the data to do some planning. and projecting.”
For NHPR News this is Chris Jensen
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What is the title of the new study and where can it be found online.
Hi Pete,
We've just added a copy of the report on this page. You'll find it at the top, under "Web Resources."
Hope that helps!
I just can't buy, that the North Country doesn't have enough trees? If starting today, a seedling was planned for each tree cut, you would have substantial growth for a long time to come. What other reason would they have to block this project? I hope that is clean burning their talking about. Thank you