Golden – A Jefferson County project to develop a facility to convert forest debris into energy has received a nearly $1 million federal boost.
U.S. Sen. Wayne Allard, R-Colo., on Wednesday announced the grant that could create the first biomass facility along the Front Range.
One potential site is 15 acres of land at the old Rooney Landfill near Interstate 70 east of the Dakota Hogback.
County officials would put together the collaboration between the U.S. Forest Service and private business.
No price has been set for the facility, which would take sawdust from deadfall, slash and thinned trees and compress it into pellets for residential wood stoves and commercial boilers.
“The project in Jefferson County exhibits that creative community involvement is part of a larger solution to the wildfire threat Colorado is facing,” Allard said in a statement.
Jefferson County – where more than 63,000 people live in the high-wildfire-risk area called the “red zone” – has been working on the biomass facility concept for several years.
“Right now, we are in conversation with the U.S. Department of Energy to put parameters on how this money can be used, such as permits, grants and loans, and whether a pelletizing facility could use this money for that,” said Jefferson County Commissioner Kevin McCasky.
Today, three U.S. Forest Service representatives from the Front Range will meet with the county board to discuss the agency’s requests for tree-thinning proposals.
“That could be a perfect source (of material) to create these clean-burning energies,” McCasky said.
A 2005 county feasibility study found about 166,000 tons of biomass would be available each year through thinning, trimming, new construction waste, and about 30,000 cubic yards of slash collected by county residents clearing property.
An Arizona businessman has a similar operation and wants to expand his wood-pellet market to the Front Range and from just residential to commercial, said Wade Yates of the county’s budget office.
The county may be able to use the federal grant money to help with startup costs.
If the U.S. Forest Service and county reach an agreement by the end of September, Yates said, the facility could start as soon as a year from now.
Staff writer Ann Schrader can be reached at 303-278-3217 or aschrader@denverpost.com.
