Taming the wildfires: Kore, Tule River in carbon-negative biohydrogen project using California’s deadwood

July 18, 2023 | Jim Lane

If you haven’t heard about the hot temperatures here on Earth this July, welcome back from your time in outer space. High temperatures tend to scream “forest fires coming!” and “let’s do more to reduce greenhouse gas emissions” to most people.

For that reason, it is good news worth sharing that Kore Infrastructure have partnered with the Tule River Economic Development Corporation, to develop a modular, forest biomass to carbon-negative biofuels facility in Porterville, California. Specifically, removing dead, dying, and diseased trees, and converting it into carbon negative UltraGreen Hydrogen and biocarbon using Kore technology.

Support arrives from the California Department of Conservation via a $500K grant to Kore in support of the project. Meanwhile, Stantec is leading the engineering design effort. Construction is expected to begin by early-2024, with commercialization achieved by the second half of 2025.

Does anyone actually like wildfire?

Forest fires are on the rise, lots of reasons for that, not all of them relate back to climate change but greenhouse gas levels aren’t helping. California’s particularly at risk and the frequency and magnitude of wildfires has caused two of the largest insurance companies in the country to discontinue writing policies in California.

The Mitigation Problem

Getting into forests to thin trees is expensive — one of the reasons why we never seem to do enough of it, and why an effort to monetize the asset is considered more urgent than, say, finding uses for waste CO2 instead of chucking it down a well.

The scope

They call this kind of wood “non-merchantable”, and this project will remove and process 48 tons per day of them, from the 57,000 acres of Sierra Nevada Forest managed by Tule River, which is also entering into a joint stewardship agreement with the US Forest Service to manage another 325,000 acres. Supplemental feedstock will be obtained by Kore via orchard waste, another source of wastewood troubles in the Golden State.

Tribal lands

Many in the industry have been hopeful that more projects can be developed in partnership with traditional tribal lands. The tribes could certainly use economic boosters and diversification — meanwhile, no one knows more about sustainable use of these resources than the tribes. This particular project works in traditional territories of the Yokuts and Tübatulabal people in the Central California valleys.

The project

The project will generate two metric tons of fuel cell quality hydrogen (99.999% purity) per day. Kore’s commercial partner intends to use this hydrogen to decarbonize shipping container handling equipment at the ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach by converting diesel-powered equipment into fuel cell electric. The hydrogen may also be available to local users as demand for fuel cell quality hydrogen expands geographically. Fuel cell electric vehicles (FCEV) are also being considered for feedstock, hydrogen, and biocarbon transport to further reduce the project’s carbon intensity.

About that biocarbon

The project will also produce about 10 tons of biocarbon daily – an elemental carbon co-product with multiple benefits. As a soil amendment, biocarbon increases plant yield while reducing irrigation and fertilizer needs. Biocarbon also sequesters about three tons of carbon dioxide for every ton incorporated into the soil. With a heating value comparable to fossil coal, biocarbon can also be used to decarbonize difficult to abate industries such as cement manufacturing, which accounts for four percent of California’s greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions.

Project expansion

Today’s announcement marks the first phase of a project that is being master planned to triple in size in order to scale its benefits for climate adaptation, carbon reduction, and increased energy independence for local communities. Kore’s model is being closely considered and evaluated for replication by the Central Valley Orchard and Forest Management for several projects throughout the Central Valley.

Reaction from the stakeholders

“Given the recent record-breaking global temperatures, innovative solutions to ease the effect of climate change are crucial,” said Cornelius Shields, Founder and CEO, Kore Infrastructure. “We are proud to engage with an Indigenous community to introduce our unique technology that can mitigate wildfire risk and restore the health of Sierra Nevada forests, enhance climate resiliency, encourage energy independence, and help decarbonize transportation in the state of California.”

Dennis Ickes, CEO of Tule River Economic Development Corporation said, “We are thrilled to collaborate with Kore Infrastructure to support and scale the vision of our renewable energy campus with the production of carbon-negative hydrogen that sustains our local economy. This project will improve the health of the forests we manage, generate renewable energy, and help enhance the economic independence of our community.”

David Shabazian, Director of California Department of Conservation said, “We congratulate Kore and look forward to our ongoing collaboration. Converting forest biomass waste into carbon-negative energy is a critical part of achieving California’s climate goals while reducing wildfire hazards, improving watersheds and supporting sustainable local economies in the region.”

Further commending the project, Fiona Ma, California State Treasurer said, “Congratulations to Kore Infrastructure on their partnership with the Tule River Economic Development Corporation and California Department of Conservation. Kore’s technology will convert deadwood from wildfire-prone areas into carbon-negative energy, helping solve two of California’s most pressing challenges: the devastating effects of wildfires and decarbonizing transportation.”