As Maryland explores alternatives to extend the utilization of renewable wooden vitality all through the state, the Western Maryland Useful resource Conservation and Improvement Council (WM RC&D) and the Maryland Clear Power Heart have partnered to provide a wooden vitality gas provide chain evaluation to guage thermal wooden vitality deployment.

This complete evaluation has been funded by the Rural Maryland Council and can present a long-term overview to evaluate the sustainability of wooden vitality in Maryland. The examine will study the full annual availability and species of fuel-grade wooden throughout the state and in surrounding counties, and determine which forests are in essentially the most want of sustainable administration. Moreover, the analysis will present five-, ten-, and fifteen-year predictions for forest development based mostly on low, medium, and excessive investments into wooden vitality.

“We’re excited to associate with MCEC to help a challenge which is able to function an essential useful resource for understanding the alternatives for elevated sustainable forest administration practices and financial development offered by the event of thermal wooden vitality in Maryland,” stated Josh Smith, govt director of the Western Maryland Useful resource Conservation and Improvement Council.

The Maryland Wooden Power Gas Provide Chain Evaluation will assist extra than simply these within the vitality subject to know Maryland’s potential. The evaluation will act as a verified, third-party useful resource for policymakers and environmental teams to reference when evaluating considerations on easy methods to make the wanted swap from fossil fuels as shortly as potential, whereas preserving Maryland’s pure magnificence. Foresters and loggers will be capable of use this report as a information to determine which areas of the state have the best want for his or her providers. This is not going to solely assist keep wholesome forests however will rejuvenate an financial sector that was devastated following the closure of the Luke Mill Paper Plant in Allegany County in 2018.

The evaluation may even assist facility managers decide if a wooden vitality system could be the most effective, sustainable selection for his or her operations. The primary query facility managers ask when contemplating a wooden vitality system is “The place will the wooden come from, and the way a lot is accessible?” This report will determine the place the wooden may be sourced from, even in an emergency, and the way a lot wooden is required to fulfill facility necessities.

“The Maryland Wooden Gas Provide Chain Evaluation shall be an important useful resource for wooden vitality adoption within the state that we’re presently lacking,” stated Maura Ross, the state wooden vitality crew chair and wooden vitality coordinator on the Maryland Clear Power Heart. “There may be some confusion about what precisely wooden vitality is and the way it may also help maintain forests. Different states resembling New Hampshire and Vermont have already deployed wooden vitality methods and seen a rise in forest well being since their forests at the moment are being actively managed and conserved. We hope that this evaluation can provide us steering on easy methods to obtain these successes right here in Maryland.”

The evaluation shall be achieved by a contracted, certified agency to make sure confidence and non-bias within the last product. MCEC expects to launch the challenge RFP this fall, and the evaluation report shall be printed in June of 2023.

The Maryland Wooden Gas Provide Evaluation is run, in partnership, by the Western Maryland Useful resource Conservation and Improvement Council and the Maryland Power Clear Power Heart and funded by the Rural Maryland Council by means of the Maryland Agricultural Schooling and Rural Improvement Help Fund. This effort can be supported by the U.S. Forest Service, Maryland Division of Pure Assets, and the Maryland State Wooden Power Crew. For extra info go to www.mdcleanenergy.org/biomass-maryland.