Truckee, Calif. – Sierra Business Council has released a three-part video series, Balance & Biomass: A Solution to Emissions, Catastrophic Fire, & Communities in Crisis, to elevate forest biomass utilization as a key tool for increasing forest resilience and reducing wildfire risk in California.
An underutilized component of solving California’s wildfire crisis is forest biomass utilization, in which excess material from forest management treatments is converted to create electricity, manufacture innovative wood products (including mass timber products, biofuels, and hydrogen), and reduce greenhouse gas emissions.
The Balance & Biomass video series identifies the opportunities of forest biomass utilization from both the local and statewide levels and begs the question, why aren’t we doing more to support appropriately scaled forest biomass in Sierra Nevada communities?
By addressing this question, Balance & Biomass presents forest biomass as a rational, pragmatic, and action-oriented solution that can set California up to meet its forest health, community well-being, and climate resilience goals. The series also accounts for the many nuances of forest biomass utilization, including emissions reductions, environmental justice concerns, and the accelerating need to reestablish a natural fire ecosystem.
Balance & Biomass makes the case for how forest biomass utilization can restore our forests and reduce the risks of catastrophic wildfire, all while bolstering rural economic activity and expanding renewable energy resources through the following three chapters:
Chapter 1: “Forests in Crisis”
Chapter 2: “The Cost of Inaction”
Chapter 3: “Realizing the Opportunity”
Sierra Business Council | www.SierraBusiness.org | (530) 582-4800 | PO Box 2428 Truckee, CA 96160
“The state of California and the federal government have been consistently underinvesting in restoration of forested landscapes to reduce the risk of wildfire. Although we are making progress on increasing funding for forest restoration the key question remains, what do we do with the material? If left in the forest biomass continues to contribute to greenhouse gas emissions through combustion or decomposition. This report posits a path to the most logical use of those materials to meet our climate goals,” said Steve Frisch, President of Sierra Business Council.
This video series builds on the research initially published in Sierra Business Council’s “Biomass in the Sierra Nevada: a Case for Healthy Forests and Rural Economies.” The full report can be found here.
Balance & Biomass was made possible through the support of the BlueTechValley Innovation Cluster funded in part by the California Energy Commission EPIC program. Sierra Business Council would like to thank the following individuals and organizations that made this series possible:
Walk Scherer, Paradise Resident
Judy and Bob Dean, Calaveras County Residents
Matthew Cunha-Rigby, HDR Architecture, Inc.
Julia Levin, Bioenergy Association of California
Jan Buck, Sierra Booster
Dan Sanchez, Joint Institute for Wood Product Innovation, UC Berkeley Glenda Humiston, Agriculture and Natural Resources, University of California Ryan Emmett Tompkins, Agriculture and Natural Resources, University of California
Teal Brown Zimring, Galvanize Partners
Thurman Roberts, Sierra Nevada Alliance Forestry Corps
Sierra Business Council (SBC) catalyzes innovative approaches to increase community vitality, economic prosperity, environmental quality, and social fairness in the Sierra Nevada. More information on SBC’s impact can be found at www.sierrabusiness.org.
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