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0 of 3 Premium Clicks used this month SUBSCRIBE Print + Online Subscriber Activation | Register x Forgot Password | Need an Account? subscribe | newsletter | deals Home News Latest Stories Officials warn families to keep eye on seniors' care State will drop winter campground discount Will you shop till you drop? App Finder: Best weather apps Travelers should be alert for wet, but changeable weather Education Teacher's Tips: College not the end-all for every student SOU Honors College team takes on Food Bank project Kiwanis club invites fifth-graders to write flag essay AHS club helps fill Ashland Emergency Food Bank Ashland High School: Students get schooled in interviewing Environment Don't like weather where you are? Move a mile or two Salmon: A force of nature can be restored Students nurturing nature SOU eyes burning biomass instead of gas Navickas ordered to pay court filing fees Business Southern Oregon reports growth in lodging industry Ride & Drive: 2015 Honda CR-V Dear Monty: Violation of HOA rules creates conflict Standing Stone stands up for Emergency Food Bank Find your holiday spirit in Ashland’s Season of Celebration Politics and elections Miller write-in campaign lands Ashland Parks and Rec seat Granlund cartoon: GOP wrecking balls Oregon voters narrowly reject GMO labeling measure Kitzhaber wins fourth term Merkley wins re-election by wide margin State News GMO label measure, losing by 809 votes, headed for recount Resent ballots, late results likely to trigger GMO recount Nation - World Grand jury won't indict Ferguson cop in shooting Obituaries Earle Morgan Swift Jr. Death Notices Fred L. Higginbotham Death Notices Stephen A. Read Sports Latest Stories Ducks' season has Lone Star roots SOU invites fans to fly with football team Tow overcomes heart condition to spark Raiders Atanda makes most of fresh start Raiders rout Pioneers, to play Carroll in QFs High school Six Grizzlies voted MWL first-teamers Grizzlies roughed up at Silverton Upset-minded Grizzlies brace for undefeated Foxes Georgia Williams commits to Columbia Gabe Lehrburger, Grizzlies clean house in MWL all-star voting Southern Oregon University Ducks' season has Lone Star roots SOU invites fans to fly with football team Tow overcomes heart condition to spark Raiders Atanda makes most of fresh start Raiders rout Pioneers, to play Carroll in QFs Opinion Latest Stories Our View: Gray, Black and Cyber Letters to the Editor, Nov. 28 Granlund cartoon: Thanksgiving Our View: Pool is not a priority Letters to the Editor, Nov. 26 Editorial Our View: Gray, Black and Cyber Our View: Pool is not a priority Our view: Keep it simple in OSF courtyard Our view: Expanding the season Our View: Letters Letters to the Editor, Nov. 28 Letters to the Editor, Nov. 26 Letters to the Editor, Nov. 24 Letters to the Editor, Nov. 15 Letters to the Editor, Nov. 11 Guest opinions Herb Rothschild Jr.: Greed, love and the Shmoo Guest Opinion: Save the SOU swimming pool Chris Honoré: Was the midterm election a mandate? Herb Rothschild: TPP agreement draws opposition from all sides Guest Opinion: A meaningful step toward political bipartisanship Revels Latest Stories Listings for Varsity Theatre and Ashland Street Cinemas Best Bets: Nov. 28-Dec. 3 Festival of Light brings cheer to downtown Ashland Siskiyou Woodcraft Guild showcases handmade furniture, toys, vases, bowls and more 'Citizenfour' is a matter-of-fact bore Theater New design for Bricks takes shape Hard to keep a straight face with 'Red Noses' 'Red Noses' is a romp through slapstick and pathos 'The Drunken City': Bachelorettes meet bar-crawlers Music Peter Chianca: Top 40 songs even a dad could love The Farr Side: Different artists, common songs Longtime area musician Steve Read, 64, dies The Farr Side: CMA telecast was a disappointment Bass Clarinet Takeover Visual Art Ashland's First Friday Art Walk showcases new exhibits by regional artists Movies Listings for Varsity Theatre and Ashland Street Cinemas 'Citizenfour' is a matter-of-fact bore Movie review: ‘Foxcatcher’ will leave you shaken and spellbound Movie review: Outrageous comedy, dirty words make ‘Horrible Bosses 2’ tick Movie review: ‘Dumb and Dumber To’ stays true to form Food and Drink Blue bows out of Granite Street site, Agave moving in Chef count up at feast for the senses Cruelest Month: Poetry Blog Lifestyle Latest Stories Health Watch: Fuel up on carbs before workouts Ride & Drive: 2015 Ford Mustang 9 ways to green your gift wrap Kent Bush: Don’t regulate Thanksgiving shopping Book review: ‘The Indestructibles: Breakout’ offers twists and turns galore Aging Happens Inner Peace Column Inner Peace Blog Classifieds Jobs Autos Real Estate FEATURED » Obituaries Photos Videos Blogs NEWS NOW Officials warn families to keep eye on seniors' care ... State will drop winter campground discount ... Our View: Gray, Black and Cyber ... Officials warn families to keep eye on seniors' care ... State will drop winter campground discount ... Our View: Gray, Black and Cyber ... SOUTHERN OREGON UNIVERSITY SOU: Biomass could make university carbon neutral Switch from natural gas would increase truck trips, particulates, but is overall preferable, study says By John Darling For the Daily Tidings DailyTidings.com By John Darling For the Daily Tidings Posted Nov. 13, 2014 @ 7:23 pm Updated Nov 16, 2014 at 2:12 PM By John Darling For the Daily Tidings Posted Nov. 13, 2014 @ 7:23 pm Updated Nov 16, 2014 at 2:12 PM » RELATED CONTENT • SOU eyes burning biomass instead of gas • SOU among top green power using schools • SOU sees biomass horizons • Biomass plants wary of losing green status » Social News They've concluded biomass generation of heat and electricity would be clearly preferable to natural gas, a panel of Southern Oregon University  and industry experts  made clear a t a public hearing Wednesday at the university in Ashland.  SOU faces the need to replacement two aging gas-fired boilers in coming years. The  panel outlined how the abundance of forest slash (branches from logging) would outpace the unpredictable but always more costly gas — and would stay within the air quality standards of the narrow Rogue Valley, where air can be trapped by inversion layers. The system would cost $12 million, offset by $2 million to $4 million in state and federal grants and would mean five truckloads of biomass would be brought in daily and unloaded to a biomass plant near the stadium, said Marcus Kaufmann, a biomass resource specialist with the Oregon Department of Forestry. It would amount to an estimated 21,000 tons a year. (This paragraph has been corrected to reflect the actual estimate of the yearly amount of biomass needed to fuel the proposed plant.) A big plus of biomass is that it would help  SOU  clear one of  the main hurdles in trying to achieve its goal of carbon neutrality, since burning gas represents 80 to 90 percent of the carbon the school uses, said Drew Gilliland, SOU Director for Facilities, Management and Planning. “We’re looking at biomass,” he said, “because we could achieve carbon neutrality with that alone.”  If not burned for energy, the slash is “just laying there” in the forest and will pump carbon into the atmosphere as it decays anyway, he adds. Thus, the university is not adding to net carbon for the planet.  While there is endless and increasing demand for natural gas, Kaufmann notes, that’s not the case for forest slash.  “There’s five times the fuel in the region than SOU could use...It’s making use of an unused resource. We could take on a couple more projects like this, but we’re not likely to see that.”  In addition, he says, any demand created by SOU will not impact higher value trees; slash will always be waste and use of it won’t affect family forests either. Burning biomass helps clean up forests, freeing the 10 percent of forest land occupied by slash, he says, thus allowing reforestation to proceed sooner.  Solar accounts for 4 percent of SOU’s energy now and there’s a small amount of roof left on Stevenson Union and the Music Building to add more, said Gilliland. He showed a short video explaining the advantages of biomass.  Bill Carlson of Carlson Small Power Consultants conducted the earlier study for the project and noted co-generation (heat and power) was a much more efficient model than just power. His study notes it will cut out present fossil fuel use and boost the school’s carbon commitment. The project is modest, he adds, noting that big projects draw community opposition.  Ashland resident John Fisher-Smith said biomass would add many particulates to the airshed and “our beloved Rogue Valley does not breathe well as polluted air is frequently trapped for weeks at a time, particularly in cold weather when we are enveloped in dense fog.”  If slash were burned on-site, its carbon would likely not end up in our airshed, he said, adding that five diesel trucks a day to SOU would wear roads and add to air pollution. He called for an Environmental Impact Statement on the project.  Power generated during low demand of warm months would be sold back to the grid, thus increasing the school’s sustainability, said Gilliland. The project options will be decided by the end of the year. The target date for coming online with the system would be the 2019-2020 year. John Darling is a freelance writer living in Ashland. Email him at [email protected]. By John Darling For the Daily Tidings DailyTidings.com By John Darling For the Daily Tidings Posted Nov. 13, 2014 @ 7:23 pm Updated Nov 16, 2014 at 2:12 PM » Comment or view comments Reader Reaction » STAY INFORMED Email NewsLetter Sign Up Today Sign up for our newsletter and have the top headlines from your community delivered right to your inbox. calendar Connect with DailyTidings.com Facebook Twitter RSS Back to top Reader Services Reader Services home Subscriptions Subscriber controls Contact us Submissions Photos Events Letters to the editor Corrections Alerts Email alerts RSS feeds Text Alerts Advertise Media Kit Home Products and services Ad rates Advertising contacts Mail Tribune Daily Tidings The Nickel Shop Our Valley Blogs Stay Informed Email newsletter Sign Up Today Sign up for our newsletter and have the top headlines from your community delivered right to your inbox. Your privacy is important, read our privacy policy. © Copyright 2014 Local Media Group, Inc. 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