TAHOE CITY
The Placer County Planning Commission approved a use permit for the proposed Cabin Creek Biomass Facility at its Sept. 10 meeting. The project is designed to convert locally, sustainably sourced woody biomass and other eligible organic waste materials into biochar (a form of charcoal intended for organic use) and other renewable or beneficial-use products to assist in the reduction of catastrophic wildfire risk.
The proposed project would establish a biomass utilization and biochar production facility on county-owned property at the Eastern Regional Landfill complex, located at 900 Cabin Creek Rd. The site is approximately 2 miles south of Interstate 80 and just west of state Route 89. The facility would be developed on the southernmost 2.7-acre portion of a 148-acre county-owned parcel.
The commission’s approval advances an innovatively redesigned proposal from a biomass energy facility previously approved for the site in 2013. The current project would use new technology that replaces the previously approved gasification-based power generation system with patented non-combustion thermal conversion technology.
The project, which supports the county’s long-standing biomass utilization efforts to reduce the risk of catastrophic wildfire, is proposed through a public-private partnership between Placer County and Biochar Now LLC. Under the proposal, locally, sustainably sourced woody biomass and other eligible organic materials would be processed using kiln-based thermal conversion technology to produce biochar and other renewable or beneficial-use products.
As part of its action, the Planning Commission also adopted an addendum to the previously certified Cabin Creek Biomass Facility project final environmental impact report.
In 2013, the board considered and subsequently denied a third-party appeal challenging the previously proposed project’s environmental analysis. The board approved a conditional use permit for the project at that time, but the permit was not exercised and expired in 2015.
Placer County’s board of supervisors is anticipated to hear additional actions towards the public-private partnership between the county and Biochar Now LLC at its Sept. 22 meeting.
Learn more about the project: placer.ca.gov/2900/cabin-creek-biomass-energy-facility.
~ Placer County press release
