<!-- Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/ --></p> <p>By Gary Bradford, especially for CalMatters</p> <figure> <img decoding="async" width=""1200"" height=""800"" src=""https://i0.wp.com/calmatters.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/04/020825_Eaton-Power-Lines_JH_CM_29.jpg?fit=1200%2C800&ssl=1"" class=""attachment-post-thumbnail" size-post-thumbnail="" wp-post-image="" alt=""two" electrical="" towers="" are="" seen="" on="" top="" of="" a="" small="" brown="" mountain="" with="" wires="" running="" through="" them="" other="" side.="" decoding=""async"" srcset=""https://i0.wp.com/calmatters.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/04/020825_Eaton-Power-Lines_JH_CM_29.jpg?w=2000&ssl=1" https:="" sizes=""(max-width:"/><figcaption>Electricity towers over Altadena on February 8, 2025. Biomass energy is electricity produced by burning or gasifying trees. Photo by Jules Hotz for CalMatters</figcaption></figure> <p>This comment was originally posted by <a href=""https://calmatters.org/"">CalMatters</a>. <a href=""https://calmatters.org/subscribe-to-calmatters/"">Sign up</a> for their newsletters.</p> <p>Guest Comment written by</p> <p>Re: <a href=""https://calmatters.org/commentary/2025/12/biomass-california-energy-wildfire-problems/"">Biomass is a money pit that won’t solve California’s energy or wildfire problems</a></p> <p>As Yuba County Supervisor, I strongly disagree with the call to end California<br />BioMAT program. </p> <p>BioMAT is not a fraudulent policy; it is expressly supported by the California Forest Carbon Plan, the California Environmental Protection Agency, the Natural Resources Agency, and the California Air Resources Board’s Climate Change Scoping Plan. All recognize small-scale bioenergy as a critical tool for wildfire prevention, climate resilience and emissions reduction, and air quality regulators also recognize the benefits of these projects.</p> <p>In Yuba County, Engeman Camptonville Green Energy’s proposed woody biomass<br />the facility will remove approximately 50,000 tons of hazardous forest material annually, it said<br />emissions from open burning and forest fires and generating 3 MW of renewable energy. this<br />the project will build on decades of reforestation work already underway in<br />North Yuba Forest Partnership, which has provided over $100 million for landscape-<br />thinning and scaling back.</p> <p>Ending BioMAT in 2025 will undermine these investments and leave communities<br />no safe biomass disposal options. Instead, the CPUC should expand and<br />strengthening BioMAT in coordination with forest fire prevention and waste management<br />efforts.</p> <p>This article was <a href=""https://calmatters.org/commentary/2025/12/bioenergy-wildfire-prevention-climate-resilience-california/"">originally published on CalMatters</a> and is republished under <a href=""https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/"">Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-No Derivatives</a> license.</p> <p> Copy the HTML
