Biofuelwatch has published a new briefing report titled ‘Lost in the Woods: Mendocino Redwood Company Quietly Abandons Investment Plans for Biomass to Hydrogen Project.’
The report describes a proposed biomass to hydrogen project that was to be sited, built and operated in the heart of the California redwoods.
Our review exposes the reality that, despite excessive hype from elected officials, government agencies and private sector investors about the potential of biomass to hydrogen as a supposed pathway to decarbonization, converting woody biomass into hydrogen is hard, expensive, dirty and dangerous.
Driving the investigation that led to the report was the discovery by our organization that in the summer of 2024 one of the biggest timber companies in California informed state climate authorities that they were considering a US$400 million investment in a woody biomass to hydrogen facility in Mendocino County.
Such a significant investment of capital would be the largest singular investment in California wood products industry manufacturing capacity in decades.
The investigation by Biofuelwatch of this proposed project leveraged the California Public Records Act (PRA) to secure governmental documents related to the study of the feasibility of the biomass to hydrogen project that have not otherwise been made publicly available.
This ‘Lost in the Woods’ case study ultimately confirms what our organization has been saying for many years: that bioenergy pathways like biomass to hydrogen are infeasible due to economic and technological constraints, not to mention the promise of risks, hazards and harms that make such a project even harder to justify, mitigate and bring to fruition.
“The abandonment of this biomass to hydrogen project is a turn of events that merits attention and discussion,” said Gary Hughes of Biofuelwatch. “Because of the way biomass to hydrogen is repeatedly celebrated as an energy and climate solution,” continued Hughes, “it is imperative that a spotlight be put on this case study that exposes the infeasibility of the biomass to hydrogen pathway to decarbonization.”
The ‘Lost in the Woods’ report is available on the Biofuelwatch website for distribution and download.
Read it here: Biofuelwatch_Lost in the Woodsbriefing
