Aug. 31 Daily News editorial

The announcement last week by Northwest Renewable that it plans to build a $72.5 million biomass plant at Longview’s Mint Farm Industrial Park comes as good news on many levels.

The Vancouver-based company, owned by U.S. Ethanol, had been planning since 2006 to build an ethanol plant at the site. Though the company says it isn’t exactly scraping that project, its more immediate turn to biomass seems more viable.

Biomass — a process where wood product wastes are used to generate steam, which then creates electricity — is a proven process that adds to our energy supply with limited environmental impact.

The power it generates, quite importantly, counts as renewable under I-937, as long as its wood products supply meets certain criteria. That is, it can’t use wood products taken from old growth forests, or use chemically treated wood.

As a renewable resource it would help meet provisions imposed on utilities and PUDs by voters with passage of I-937.

Wind and solar power will only go so far in helping us wean ourselves from foreign energy sources. Though the Cowlitz PUD’s wind power projects are positive steps toward diversification, this region needs as many good options as possible.

Ethanol also meets those I-937 requirements but that energy source — generated mostly from corn — has fallen from favor as the scale of land needed to supply the corn, the cost of transporting it, and what it means to the food supply becomes clearer.

For now, however, biomass is a very attractive option for helping to reduce our reliance on fossil fuels. Having a wide-ranging energy portfolio helps to keep energy cost under control. At least two other firms are reportedly looking at Cowlitz County sites for potential biomass plants.

The 24-megawatt plant at the Mint Farm would create up to 400 construction jobs and up to 70 permanent jobs, according to the company. Opportunities to grow our job base with good industries should be embraced by all the county’s residents.

This project appears to have all the elements we need.

In addition, the plant will be another valuable piece for the Mint Farm Industrial Park, a quality industrial site that still is underutilized.

Northwest Renewable hopes to start construction next year.

Longview city officials and the Cowlitz Economic Development Council deserve credit for sticking with this project and helping to enable this turn toward biomass.

As far as its plans for ethanol go, Northwest Renewable says it eventually plans to build a cellulosic ethanol plant at the Mint Farm as a “spin-off companion” to the biomass plant. Cellulosic ethanol comes from cellulose, plant fiber available from vegetation, such as grass clippings or tree limbs.

That would be more viable than a corn option. With a hard push toward such renewable energy projects coming from Washington, D.C., and available federal money to help make them happen, we are in the right place at the right time for the right project.