End field burning and create jobs? Here's how
By Tom Adams KVAL NewsJUNCTION CITY, Ore. - If you could convert grass stubble into energy, you could pretty much end field burning -- and create new jobs in Lane County. Is that too good to be true? Not if county officials move ahead on plans for a bio-energy plant.
It's nothing but an empty field, but imagine about a year and a half from now: A $25 million waste conversion plant on the west edge of Junction City. "Our business plan is looking at multiple conversion technologies, converting local waste into electricity, into cellulosic fuel," said Mike McKenzie-Bahr, the economic development coordinator for Lane County. Unlike bio-mass factories that burn wood waste, nothing would be burned here. The process works like this: grass stubble from Western Oregon fields would be cut and brought to the plant, along with other types of agricultural waste. Mix in bacteria at the factory and the stuff cooks and produces methane gas. That's converted to electrical power, and presto: field burning smoke could become a thing of the past.
Junction City officials say they endorse the plant wholeheartedly. "It fits with the modern economy," said City Administrator David Clyne, "the green economy that we're pursuing nationally and locally." The county figures the project will put 76 people to work during construction, then 40 to 90 full time jobs at the plant. "In Europe, they're doing it in hundreds if not thousands of locations," McKenzie-Bahr said. Groundbreaking could come late this year on the project. Officials hope for a blend of private and public money to cover the $25 million cost. The bio-energy plant could be open fall of 2010. |
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