Local politics, the county, and the world, as viewed by Tammy Maygra
Tammy's views are her own, and do not necessarily reflect the views of Bill Eagle, his pastor, Tammy's neighbors, Earl Fisher, Betsy Johnson, Joe Corsiglia, President Obama, Tony Hyde, Pat Robertson, Debi Corsiglia's dog, or Claudia Eagle's Cats. This Tammy's Take (with the exception of this disclaimer) is not paid for or written by, or reviewed by anyone but Tammy and she won't take crap off of anyone.

These charred chips are cane plants that have gone through a process called "torrefaction." Using heat and pressure, the new process leaves behind a fuel that is dry, contains more energy per pound than some types of coal and can also be simply ground up for use in an ordinary utility boiler

PGE hopes that a new type of plant will be used to generate power at the Boardman coal fire plant. The plant is called Arundo donax, or giant cane, it grows wild in Greek backyards and is considered a pesky weed in California, Texas and Florida. The cane can grow 20 feet per year and will be harvested mid-summer through the fall. The process used would char the cane and turn it into chunks that resemble coal and then would be burned at the Boardman plant to produce electricity. There is one big problem the cane is not grown commercially in Oregon, PGE has decide to take approximately 400 acres plant the cane, harvest and then see if the cane would work as a bio- fuel.

If PGE's plan works the Boardman plant would be the largest plant producing energy from bio-mass in the entire US. Another great point is these energy companies would reduce their output of carbon emissions and may start a trend that would benefit the environment throughout the world. Studies are being done to see if the cane idea would be cost effective to do or what the cost would be compared to the wind farms that dot the land scape in eastern Oregon.

PGE is hoping that the switch to bio-mass over coal will be accepted by Oregonians, and PGE feels that coal is out and other energy ideas are being recognized by the majority of all Oregonians.

However there are a few problems facing PGE  if 10% or more of the cane is mixed with coal it gums up the machinery in the plant so production is limited to24 hours, but PGE is very  hopeful that they can correct that simple problem and use 100% bio-mass in the old coal fore plant

PGE has to stop burning coal by 2020, the plant is only about 30 years old and considered a new plant, PGE hopes that making bio-mass a good fuel to burn they would save money refitting the plant verses tearing the plant down.

Unlike wind mills the bio-mass plant would produce energy year round verses wind power which produces energy only when the wind blows.There are more problems that must be addressed, the amount of cane needed would be about 30 dry tons per acres, the amount of water needed to produce these crops is huge and would require more irrigation from the Columbia River which could impact the salmon, and where there has been a limit of how much water can be pulled from the river. There are problems with the amount of smoke that would come out of the stacks as well. In all the plant would require 60,000 acres of cane per year, it would impact the types of crops being grown for about 100 miles.

Tests are being done to see if the plant would thrive in Oregon's climate. Other precautions are being done to contain the cane, because no one wants the cane to become a noxious weed as it is in other parts of the US.

The verdict is out and time will tell if this is a good idea or not. But at least PGE is trying to improve the way the company is generating energy that just might be kinder to the environment and to our health.