Butte County, California Issued BDO Zone 'BBB' Rating for Woody Biomass
Butte County, California Issued BDO Zone 'BBB' Rating for Woody Biomass
– ‘BBB’ Rating supports new markets for untapped forest residues –
June 20, 2024 – The BDO Zone Initiative has issued a BDO Zone ‘BBB’ rating for Butte County, California for 223,000 bone dry tons per year of woody biomass. The Butte County Fire Safe Council and Ecostrat are pleased to announce the issue of an investment grade BDO Zone ‘BBB’ Rating for Woody Biomass. The Butte County BDO Zone is the first ‘BBB’ rating in the State of California and extends a 75-mile drive distance from the center point in Oroville, CA.
Butte County’s BDO Zone ‘BBB’ rating denotes good prospective viability of feedstock available to support the intake requirements of new biofuels, renewable chemical, biogas and biomaterial production plants. The rating signifies strong supply chain and infrastructure characteristics that meet the requirements for new facility construction and operations. Designated as a Federal Opportunity Zone, the region features excellent industrial sites, including a biomass power plant. The plant is in close proximity to a wastewater treatment plant, the Sierra Pacific Industries sawmill, a railroad spur, and the Highway 70 Industrial Park, one of Northern California’s largest industrial parks. With low competition risk and cost-efficient access to rail and seaports, the region is ideal for hosting new biomass-based projects.
“The BDO Zone Rating highlights our community’s proactive approach to forest restoration and wildfire management,” stated Taylor Nilsson, Executive Director, Butte County Fire Safe Council. “We are excited to partner with biobased companies to utilize our abundant, underutilized woody biomass resources, reduce wildfire risk, and create new market opportunities.”
Jordan Solomon, Chairman of the BDO Zone Initiative, added, “As the first BDO Zone Rating for woody biomass in California, this investment-grade rating will pave the way for new sustainable biobased markets and play a vital role in supporting Butte County’s efforts to enhance fire safety in the region.”
To see the full BDO Zone Rating for Butte County, CA, please click here, or visit www.bdozone.org.
BDO Zone Project Development Support:
About The BDO Zone Initiative
The Biofuel Development Opportunity (BDO) Zone Initiative certifies ‘regional readiness’ for bio-manufacturing, creates global connections and ignites an influx of new energy opportunities for farmers, economic developers, and rural businesses. A BDO Zone rating is an internationally recognized, standards-based technical risk assessment of a region’s feedstock, supply chain, and infrastructure risk with respect to the development potential for new biofuel plants. BDO Zone ratings are site location bullseyes for bio-project development. Investment grade ratings are force-multipliers for attracting new manufacturing plants to the areas where they are most likely to succeed, drive investment and create jobs.
For more information on the BDO Zone Initiative, contact info@bdozone.org. To view all BDO Zone ratings, visit www.bdozone.org. Check out the BDO Zone LinkedIn page for news and updates.
Ecostrat is the North American leader in biomass due diligence for biofuels, renewable chemicals, biogas, and bio-product project development and finance. Jordan Solomon is Chairman of the BDO Zone Initiative and President of Ecostrat (www.ecostrat.com). He can be reached at jordan.solomon@ecostrat.com.
Originally published at bdozone.org.