Wildfire prevention can power California

California has some of the most expensive energy in the world. It also has mountains full of black vegetation that was charred in catastrophic wildfires, as well as countless dead or overly dense trees that pose a real and substantial fire hazard to many communities.

Fortunately, there is something we can do to combat these problems: unlock real investment in biomass energy.

Sustainable forest management in fire prone areas generates tons of organic material that needs to be disposed of. California burns or chips the majority of this material to mitigate fire risk or is forced to leave the residue in forests due to limited disposal facilities.

But we can use these resources to produce heat or energy instead. And removing biomass material from our forestlands allows young trees to grow faster and — most importantly — eliminates the fuel that creates deadly and devastating wildfires.

Under current California law, electrical corporations are obligated to purchase a proportionate share of 125 megawatts of sustainably produced electricity from facilities that rely on bioenergy.

But we can do better. How can California stay on the biomass track? SB1109, authored by state Sen. Anna Caballero, D-Salinas, is a good starting point.

SB1109 will protect and sustain the existing biomass industry in California. The bill would extend our existing biomass energy purchase agreements, which are set to expire, for a minimum of five additional years. Extending this mandate would create a predictable demand for biomass energy and justify longterm energy generation investments in enhanced reliability and efficiency. The bill would also ensure that at least 80% of the raw materials used by biomass generation facilities come from sustainable forest management sources.

Traditional bioenergy isn’t the most efficient source of power generation, but it’s the only process we have right now that can handle the scale of fuel California has to deal with. We need a bridge effort to handle the tremendous volume of materials until newer, more efficient technology can catch up to demand.

This likely will take decades. Unless we build a viable biomass energy market now, we will continue to watch our treasured forests transform from green to black.

Furthermore, an aggressive commitment to biomass energy generation will almost certainly help improve the efficiency of the technology, just as investments in battery technology have fostered the electric car revolution in our state.

SB1109 would maintain our current bioenergy generation thresholds. But it can and should go further. There are several biomass facilities in California sitting idle. If they were offered the same type of agreements that operational facilities hold, they could come online and be major contributors to both forest recovery and a resilient energy strategy.

Unfortunately, plans to expand the capacity of our existing programs were removed from SB1109. This is a problem.

We have private, state and federal land managers ready and eager to remove dead trees and other woody material from wilderness areas. But there are an extraordinarily low number of facilities to process the material. And forest managers are reluctant to use forms of managed fire, such as pile burning, due to the threat of igniting wildfires from smoldering piles. Simply storing the unburned material presents another hazard due to the potential for self-combustion.

Silicon Valley loves to talk about product-market fit, which is when an app or service like Uber finds a market of motivated customers — people who were unhappy with the expense and hassle of getting a taxi in big cities.

Taken separately, you have an inefficient business and unsatisfied customers. Bringing the two together solves problems for both.

The situation in our forests is a much higher-stakes version of this quandary. The product — flammable biomass — sits in windy mountain passes, representing an everpresent danger of combustion. SB1109 can secure the future of the market needed to absorb this product, reduce fire danger and bolster energy security.

But that’s not enough. Gov. Gavin Newsom’s administration needs to work with the Legislature to reinstate provisions pulled from SB1109 that would expand the program. An additional 100 megawatt biomass mandate would create a sustainable new source of energy and further protect communities threatened by wildfires as well as the natural resources of the state.