During forest restoration projects plant debris are often left behind. Now, one local utility it looking to make leftover wood and leaves worth something.
Salt River Project’s Coronado Generating Station is exploring the possibility of using debris removed during thinning projects as a supplemental heat source to burn coal at the plant.
SRP’s Water Supply Director, Bruce Hallin, said forest waste is not the best fuel for burning coal. But he said the goal is that by burning the two together, they could provide future positive impacts for Arizona forests.
“Instead of burning it on the forest floor, piling it up and burning it, and releasing all of that carbon into the atmosphere, now we have the opportunity to potentially find some value associated with it.”
SRP is working with multiple agencies including the U.S. Forest Service to fund the project.
The generating station is looking to do a test burn in the late fall or winter of 2016.
