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</o:shapelayout></xml><![endif]--></head><body lang=EN-US link=blue vlink=purple><div class=WordSection1><p class=MsoNormal>From the Modesto Bee (California)<o:p></o:p></p><h1>Biomass plant finished near Merced<o:p></o:p></h1><h2 id="story_subheadline">Larger one in Oakdale coming from same firm<o:p></o:p></h2><p class=MsoNormal><span class=byline>By Brandon Bowers</span><br><span class=byline><a href="mailto:bbowers@mercedsun-star.com">bbowers@mercedsun-star.com</a></span> <o:p></o:p></p><p><b>ATWATER</b> — The people behind a small-scale biomass plant that turns old shipping pallets into electricity hope it's the start of something big for the energy industry.<o:p></o:p></p><p>San Francisco-based Phoenix Bio-mass Energy Inc. recently finished a 500-kilowatt biomass plant at Golden State Pallet & Crate near the former Castle Air Force Base.<o:p></o:p></p><p>Phoenix Biomass Chief Executive Officer Greg Stangl said he hopes the plant, which can convert agricultural waste and other organic materials into electricity, will become a showcase for the potential of renewable energy as his company replicates the model throughout the Central Valley. <o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal><a href="http://media.modbee.com/smedia/2011/02/14/19/LIVE_p0215_15b2biomass.standalone.prod_affiliate.11.jpg" title=""
(MARCI STENBERG / mstenberg@mercedsunstar.com) - A 500 kilowatt power plant that turns wood into energy." "><span style='color:blue;text-decoration:none'><img border=0 width=133 height=200 id="Picture_x0020_11" src="cid:image001.jpg@01CBCCE9.D9930B90" alt="N15-BIO MASS1 "></span></a><o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal>(MARCI STENBERG / mstenberg@mercedsunstar.com) - A 500 kilowatt power plant that turns wood into energy. <o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p><p>The valley, with its focus on agriculture and industry, "gets" biomass, he said.<o:p></o:p></p><p>"People here understand biomass. This is a technology from the late 1800s, so people here know about it," Stangl said. "The other sort of renewable stuff, like solar power and wind turbines, are sexier and favored in the Bay Area."<o:p></o:p></p><p>Phoenix Biomass has built several of the small-scale plants in Europe, but the Merced County plant is the first of its type to receive a permit in the United States, Stangl said.<o:p></o:p></p><p>"It took about three years longer to get a permit than it did overseas," he said, adding that the company is working on a larger 1-megawatt plant at an ag byproducts company in Oakdale. "The great news is that the second one went so much faster it'll make your head spin. Once we went through the process and educated the guys on site, the second trip through was considerably easier."<o:p></o:p></p><p>The mostly automated plant helped create seven jobs, Stangl said. <o:p></o:p></p><p>Mark Hendrickson, Merced County's director of commerce, aviation and economic development, said the type of jobs created by the plant are the kind of careers that the county wants to attract.<o:p></o:p></p><p>"We believe that Merced County is a premiere location to attract green commerce, whether it's solar or converting wood waste into power," Hendrickson said. "We believe that Merced County is uniquely positioned and this is a company, that, we learned very quickly, has a big set of plans."<o:p></o:p></p><p>Hendrickson said the county helped the company cut through some of the red tape involved in the permit process by talking with a number of regulatory agencies, such as the San Joaquin Valley Air Pollution Control District. <o:p></o:p></p><p>Stangl said he was proud that the financing did not require government assistance.<o:p></o:p></p><p>Phoenix tries to build its plants where there's an abundance of bio-mass, such as agriculture waste. The most interest, he said, comes from large agricultural processors such as almond hullers, orchard removal companies and waste sites.<o:p></o:p></p><p>If there's excess energy being produced, it can be sold to large utilities, Stangl said.<o:p></o:p></p><p>He said the University of California at Merced's research into renewable energy wasn't a factor in choosing Merced as its starting point, but he was excited about the possibility of collaboration.<o:p></o:p></p><p>"The university has people working on gasification and they have a lab-scale gasifier, but it's a happy coincidence that there are people in our home base from the science fields," he said. <o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='color:black'><br>Read more: <a href="http://www.modbee.com/2011/02/14/1557267/atwater-biomass-plant-finished.html#ixzz1E2sG6vL8"><span style='color:#003399'>http://www.modbee.com/2011/02/14/1557267/atwater-biomass-plant-finished.html#ixzz1E2sG6vL8</span></a><o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p></div></body></html>