Fire Prevention, Clean Energy, and Water Quality in California

FlowPath partnered with the Scotts Valley Band of Pomo Indians (SVBPI) to plan, secure 100% federal funding, then support permitting and deploy an innovative biomass management facility to transform forest biomass management in rural Lake County. The project addresses urgent regional challenges—fire risk, high demand for jobs, and environmental degradation—while delivering substantial, measurable benefits:

• Reducing Wildfire Risk and by converting forest biomass from thinning operations into clean, renewable energy, and providing an end use for thinned biomass;
• Generating Clean Energy that improves facility operational resiliency and supports SVBPI's clean energy goals;
• Creating Jobs for SVBPI members and the communities and rural areasserved by the project
• Restoring Clear Lake's Water Quality by using biochar—a co-product of the biomass-to-energy process—to help support water quality restoration in Clear Lake, California's second-largest freshwater lake

Designed for Replication and Growth

The first modular biomass-to-energy system of its kind, this project is designed to scale. SVBPI's project establishes a replicable framework to develop future systems across Lake County and beyond, creating long-term opportunities for economic and commercial development, along with improved environmental resilience.

Driving Tribal Development and Revenue Growth

This project is especially impactful for SVBPI, a landless, federally-recognized tribe. Through reliable near- and long- term financial and environmental benefits, the project supports SVBPI's journey toward monetizing multi-benefit technologies and programs that protect communities, improve the environment, and drive new, reliable revenue.