BIOMASS RENEWABLE ENERGY PROJECT UNDERWAY IN BLUE LAKE

Blue Lake- A new biomass energy project for the Blue Lake Rancheria is slated to begin this summer. $1.75 million dollars has been awarded to aid that project through Humboldt State University’s Clean Energy Program.
 
The grant comes from the California Energy Commission’s Public Energy Research Program. The project will include a biomass power system at Blue Lake Rancheria, community-wide energy upgrades, and electrical vehicle transportation systems.
 
"It's going to supply about 1/3 of the rancheria's electrical and the tribe really sees it as an investment in technology, in jobs,” said the tribe’s Energy Director, Jana Gannion.
Today a planning meeting took place with collaborators from the Redwood Coast Energy Authority, the Schatz Energy Research Center , and the Blue Lake Rancheria Tribe.
 
They’ll take wood waste and run it through a device called a gasifier that basically takes the wood waste and turns it into a energy-rich gas.  
 
The team is thrilled to work with a new system to fuel the Mad River Valley. They hope the technology will help them exceed the California renewable energy standards.
 
 
Construction on the zero-emission device along with the addition of vehicle charging stations, and community-wide upgrades are expected to begin this summer.