Kranz takes biomass talks to Washington

Kara Fox
Sierra Sun
May 16, 2006

A catastrophic wildfire in the Tahoe Basin will not happen on Bruce Kranz’s watch, at least that’s what the Placer County District 5 Supervisor contends.

To keep his word, Kranz has started a campaign to bring a biomass facility to Tahoe and to research ways to prevent a wildfire in the Basin.

Biomass is any sort of vegetation. If burned efficiently, biomass can produce electricity, heat and a variety of liquid and gaseous fuels, including those currently manufactured from fossil fuels, according to the U.S. Department of Energy.

In the past two months, Kranz has traveled to Washington, D.C., to meet with members of Congress to urge passage of two federal bills that deal with creating healthy forests. He has also met with the U.S. Forest Service and the Bureau of Land Management to encourage them to support the bills and to get on the biomass bandwagon.

“We need to get biomass going,” said Kranz, who advocates a fermentation plant that produces a gas that could be captured. “The problem that I see is that this stuff costs a lot of money. Unless we get the private sector to put money in, we can’t get it done.”

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	Kranz takes biomass talks to Washington Kara Fox Sierra Sun May 16, 2006 A catastrophic wildfire in the Tahoe Basin will not happen on Bruce Kranz’s watch, at least that’s what the Placer County District 5 Supervisor contends. To keep his word, Kranz has started a campaign to bring a biomass facility to Tahoe and to research ways to prevent a wildfire in the Basin. Biomass is any sort of vegetation. If burned efficiently, biomass can produce electricity, heat and a variety of liquid and gaseous fuels, including those currently manufactured from fossil fuels, according to the U.S. Department of Energy. In the past two months, Kranz has traveled to Washington, D.C., to meet with members of Congress to urge passage of two federal bills that deal with creating healthy forests. He has also met with the U.S. Forest Service and the Bureau of Land Management to encourage them to support the bills and to get on the biomass bandwagon. “We need to get biomass going,” said Kranz, who advocates a fermentation plant that produces a gas that could be captured. “The problem that I see is that this stuff costs a lot of money. Unless we get the private sector to put money in, we can’t get it done.”