The UC Woody Biomass Utilization Group and UCCE Humboldt-Del Norte Counties are holding a workshop on Woody Biomass to Energy at the UC Office in Eureka on March 25 2010.
This workshop will help you to understand the basics of different conversion technologies including scale, cost, raw material specification and whether they are proven or emerging technologies. This will help the audience understand the opportunities for the North Coast of California.

We will start with a recap on woody biomass basics and then focus on woody biomass to energy conversion technologies including:
- Thermal (heat)
- Electricity and combined heat and power (CHP)
- Emerging technologies including:
- Gasification
- Pyrolysis
- Liquid fuels
There will be a field tour to local facilities in the afternoon.
You input into the topics we cover is important - when you register you can suggest other topics and tell us which is your highest and lowest priority.
UC's woody biomass group are involved with 2 workshops at the Sierra Cascade Logging Conference in February.
Both will be held at Redding Convention Center, Room 125.
Thursday February 11, 2010, 1pm-3pm: "Bio Energy and Bio Fuels: Make it Happen"
Friday February 12, 2010, 11am-12noon: "Woody Biomass Utilization Opportunities”
The conference and expo have been redesigned for this year and will be based entirely in Redding, at the Convention Center and Holiday Inn. Check the SCLC website for information: http://www.sierracascadeexpo.com/index.php
We have been receiving a lot of questions regarding the status of the 2010 Woody Biomass Utilization Grant program. Currently the Forest Products Lab in Madison has received pre-applications and has distributed them to the review team.
The review takes place due the week commencing January 25 2010. Therefore you will not hear if your pre-application has been successful until sometime in February. Please be patient and remember that the time line for the program is in the application materials.
Approximately 200 applications were submitted nationally with around 25 from California. Therefore competition will be tough.
Thanks to the 160+ people that came to our series of grant information workshops across the state. The feedback was very positive and it is likely that we will repeat the workshops in the future to help raise awareness of funding opportunities for those looking to process or add value to woody biomass.
The Forest Service budget for the 2010 Hazardous Fuels Woody Biomass Utilization Grants will be $5m based on the 2010 Interior Appropriations Bill. This is less than the amount anticipated so therefore the competition for the grants will be stronger. Potential applicants should consider how they will compare to others and whether to apply for less than the maximum $350,000 whihc will give the agency better value for money.
Workshops will give information about the 2010 Forest Service Hazardous Fuels Woody Biomass Utilization Grant.
The workshops are free but we appreciate it if you can register in advance. Online registration is available for each event (click on workshop and follow the links).
