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Company Creates Renewable Energy From Beetle Trees

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Sep 6, 2008 5:42 pm US/Mountain

Company Creates Renewable Energy From Beetle Trees

Reporting
Andrea Lopez

KREMMLING, Colo. (CBS4) ―

Click to enlarge 1 of 1: Lodgepole pine trees killed by the pine beetle
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A wood pellet plant in Kremmling is now up and running, producing 200 tons of pellets every single day. They're made from wood that would have gone to waste and they're providing a clean burning, cheap fuel.

Members of the U.S. Forest Service and lawmakers from other states toured the Confluence Energy power plant last week to see how the dead trees are being turned into renewable energy.

"We can deliver them in bulk to virtually anywhere in Colorado and be cheaper the natural gas," Mark Mathis with Confluence Energy said.

The plant pays for the dead trees killed by the pine beetle. The trees are harvested from state, federal and private land and used to produce clean-burning pellets for stoves and biomass facilities to heat homes and businesses.

"We can offset a tremendous amount of natural gas and fossil fuel utilization," Mathis said. "This plant alone is able to heat 40,000 homes."

Mathis came up with the idea after watching trees die all around him.

"Nobody was really doing anything about it. There was a lot of happy talk of 'this needs to be done, that needs to be done,'" Mathis said. "It didn't seem like anybody was jumping into the deep end of the pool."

The wood can deteriorate quickly and can't always be used in saw mills, but it can still be used to make pellets.

Mathis is trying to establish a relationship with the Forest Service to log on its land, clearing trees that it doesn't have the money or the manpower to remove.

The plant has been an economic boost for Kremmling and Grand County.

"It's increased employment by between 20 and 30 people at the plant itself and then the loggers who are bringing material into it, so it's a positive impact," said Gary Bumgarner, Grand County Commissioner.

If Mathis can secure a long-term agreement with the Forest Service and can ensure a steady supply of trees, he plans to invest $100 million to expand the operation.

One county commissioner says people are worried about what happens when all pine beetle trees have been harvested.

Mathis said if the Forest Service allows trees to be thinned in the future to promote healthy growth, the logging and pellet plant industry will also stay healthy.

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