Placer County, Calif., officials are inching forward with plans to build a power plant in the environmentally sensitive Lake Tahoe basin.
Officials expect plenty of tough questions and likely some vocal opposition, but they're convinced the proposed, one- to three-megawatt biomass plant would be good for the local environment. The plant would run on wood scraps from nearby forest thinning and maintenance projects.
Biomass power plants utilize organic materials, in this case tree limbs, pine cones and small trees, to create power — traditionally by heating water through a boiler. The process emits far less pollution than burning the wood out in the open, and the hot water can be used to create either biogas or electricity. The hot water byproduct could also be used to melt ice and snow on nearby roads.
Read the full story at sacbee.com.
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