Catalina Island Energy & Water Project Scoping Visit

The Center and National Clean Fuels (NACF) visited Santa Catalina Island on Thursday, November 11, 2010 to scope the island (see video).  Center President Norris McDonald and NACF principal Maurice Stone met with Catalina Island Conservancy COO Mel Dinkel to discuss utility issues on the island.

The Center and NACF are seeking to develop sustainable, reliable, efficient and effective utility systems on Catalina Island.  The partnership is recommending the construction and operation of new water, gas and electricity systems on the island. The Center and NACF are proposing to lead with the construction of a biomass-to-electricity (BTE) plant.

The Center and NACF are presenting energy and water system proposals to the island stakeholders and Southern California Edison (SCE) in order to get consensus on the best systems for residents and businesses.  Proposals range from construction of a ten megawatt wood chip-to-electricity power plant, construction of a desalination plant , installation of wind turbines, construction of a gas-fired power plant  photovoltaic electricity production to construction of separate drinking water and waste water lines.

The Center and NACF are seeking to get wood feedstock for the woodchip-to-methane-to-electricity plant from the wildfire areas around the State of California.  They are also examining the feasibility of following the electricity plant with a distillation desalination plant. Our intent is to enhance electricity and water resources capacity on Santa Catalina Island.  Planning and implementation of these two initial projects will serve as precursors to consideration and construction of the other projects.

Sacramento Outreach