The US Coast Guard entered into an interagency agreement with the Forest Service to aid renewable energy ventures and to support forest products. The agreement will translate as further federal buy-in to the Southeast Alaska Investment strategy of USDA. It is also in line with the Coast Guard’s efforts in Alaska to shift to a renewable energy source such as biomass.
Under Secretary of the Agriculture for National Resources and the Environment Harris Sherman, center, and Regional Forester Beth Pendleton to his left, being briefed on biomass boilers in Alaska
The collaboration with the Forest Service will support their current attempt to replace oil with wood pellets for heating at their Alaska facilities. A previous study has established that overall costs of heating for the Coast Guard as well as other consumers of energy in the region will reduce by obtaining biomass from local sources.
Agency biomass expert, Robert Deering and Dan Parrent, Manager of Forest Service Woody Biomass and Stewardship Program will work in collaboration with the Southeast Alaska forest products and renewable energy workgroups of the USDA, the Alaska Energy Authority and the State Division of Forestry.
As per the agreement, Deering will work for the Tongass National Forest from October for a year. The State of Alaska, Department of Natural Resources, Division of Forestry and the Forest Service will fund Deering’s position. A key deliverable for Deering under the agreement is to devise a strategy to convert oil heat to biomass and to commence execution of important projects identified in the plan. Determining the drawbacks in regional logistics and manufacturing supply chain and addressing those drawbacks are the other reasons for the interagency agreement.
Source: http://www.fs.usda.gov/
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