I was thinking about asking for just such advice from ETers. I have to say that my knowledge of the energy cost of recycling paper is very low; I assumed - as most of us here - that there was a substantial benefit.

As to heat generation from wood waste - we are a very low-population density, somewhat spread-out county. Fitting heat generation from 'waste' logging detritus to our needs will be difficult, except for individual wood stoves (which make up a fairly substantial portion of home heating around here). Do you have any leads/information on the best approaches for this type of heating? (I have a catalytic stove, and I'm not happy with much of anything about it, but it does seem to put out a relatively low amount of smoke.)

About biodiesel - the point is that we have one bus that makes three trips per weekday from Stevenson to Vancouver, WA. I want to expand the service somewhat and reduce the number of cars and trucks making cold starts for short runs in this area. Biodiesel works from several points-of-view to make the whole project more attractive: local source, local labor, lower cost, and (so I'm told) cleaner-burning fuel.

As far as electrical generation - I'm 100% interested. One of my main 'planks' is to generate electricity locally. If you look at a wind chart, you will see that the Columbia River Gorge is rated highly, so that's where I see the main emphasis. However, we are 90% forested, so it's a huge resource, too. In any case - as I say - I'm 100% interested.

Another of my projects will be - assuming election - to kick-start regional participation in a conservation/generation consortium. We've had such a project before, and it was actually quite useful - house insulation, weather-stripping, and such - but Bonneville Power Authority was the main funding source, and you can imagine what's happened there since 1994 - one cutback after another in any project that made sense for the general population.

As to the woods and logging - we are the heart of the Douglas Fir forests. Our 'plantation' timber (we don't cut old-growth nowadays) is still some of the best structural wood in the world. There is a downturn in the market, but there is still demand for our lumber. We cut to metric and ship to Japan, which tells you something about the quality right there. I'd rather have a strictly local market, but with this type of product there will be a distant demand as well.

paul spencer