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Wisewood Energy is one of the nation's leaders in developing advanced wood energy projects.

We outfit communities, businesses, and industries with right-sized biomass technology that strengthens local economies, stabilizes energy costs and promotes environmental stewardship.

  • Our projects are not R&D sites—we engineer systems using the best available commercial technology designed to operate efficiently and reliably for decades to come. And, our team is available to support your operations for the long haul.

  • We specialize in getting the technology right to optimize energy resilience, whether that’s heat, combined heat-and-power (CHP), or electricity generation. Our systems target your on-site energy needs first, then consider opportunities to export energy for nearby uses and/or the grid. 

  • Biomass energy and wood utilization in the US West is uniquely tied to the health of our forested landscapes. We design all of our projects to use wood residuals from existing forest health and wildfire risk reduction activities that have no other highest and best use, strengthening a more circular economy.

    We purposefully size our systems to be within locally available biomass fuel sources, ensuring both a stable demand for these byproducts and a sustainable supply for the life of the system. That’s what we call Biomass Done Right!

 

Featured Projects

  • Mt. Bachelor Ski Resort

    Under Construction

    Mt. Bachelor had high energy costs, sustainability goals, and an inherent interest in keeping their surrounding forests green and healthy.

    Wisewood designed a district energy system to cover 94% of the annual heat load for five buildings and two snowmelt areas using residuals from fire risk reduction activities on the Deschutes National Forest and surrounding areas.

    Our Solutions

  • South Tahoe Refuse

    Final Design & Engineering

    South Tahoe Refuse currently collects and processes woody material from defensible space thinning and vegetation management in the South Tahoe area, then trucks it 50 miles roundtrip out of the Basin.

    Wisewood is designing a 250kW biomass CHP plant that will net meter nearly 90% of STR’s grid electricity and offset 90% of natural gas use with just a portion of their available wood waste.

    Our Solutions

  • High Desert Biomass Cooperative

    Operating since 2016

    In the city of Burns, OR, the High Desert Biomass Cooperative consolidated and connected energy needs to build a district heat loop serving a 5-block radius with a single biomass boiler.

    Wisewood was responsible for design, construction financing, and ownership and operations for the first two years of the project, after which the local community secured long-term financing to take over the system. Recently, Wisewood has rejoined the O&M team to provide routine maintenance and operations.

    Our Process

  • Dual Feedstock Pellet Mill

    Construction Complete

    An animal feed producer in Eastern Oregon commissioned Wisewood Energy to design and oversee construction of a new state-of-the-art wood and alfalfa pellet mill on a decommissioned mill site.

    The new plant bolsters the company’s bottom line by producing densified, organic alfalfa into pellets for feed during part of the year then shifting into wood fuel pellet production for a new line of products in the remainder of the year. 

    Our Work

Why Biomass?

Healthy Forests

Right-sized biomass technologies provide meaningful renewable energy systems that complement existing fuel reduction treatments, FireWise® and FireSAFE® wildfire mitigation efforts, and traditional forest stewardship.

Growing Restoration Economies

We need energy to power our communities. Instead of relying on imported fossil fuels that are subject to a global market, communities in the West can use an abundant regional resource – wood – and invest in their local economies to make them more adaptive and create local jobs.

Better Public Health

Biomass systems, when using waste wood, provide a carbon-neutral alternative to slash piles and landfilling. Using modern and efficient technologies, communities that move away from fossil fuels can benefit from cleaner air and carbon reduction.

Regenerative Fuel Sources

Photo: Marcus Kauffman, Oregon Department of Forestry

We help partners create links between their local forests and more resilient energy systems with wood chips and pellets that typically come from nearby sources in their community.

Forest Stewardship

Wildfire Mitigation Residuals

Waste Wood

Applications of Biomass Technology

Wood Energy as Community Energy

Wood Energy as Community Energy

Space Heating

Space Heating

Process Heating

Process Heating

District Heating

District Heating

Net Metered CHP

Net Metered CHP

Power Plant

Power Plant

CHP Campus

CHP Campus

“Wisewood is impressive for its knowledge of biomass system design and construction, but really shined when it brought together public and private partners to pull off a complex, multi-step biomass project. I appreciate their creative thinking to forge partnership, broker financing and develop local capacity…Having a broad suite of skills was critical to the project’s success."

— THERESA DEIBELE, PROGRAM OFFICER OF MEYER MEMORIAL TRUST

Join the growing list of communities, businesses, and landowners using state-of-the-art biomass technology.