BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES The partnership proposed by the Cooperator was selected due to merit review evaluations from the 2017 Notice of Funding Opportunity P17AS00037. The Cooperator demonstrated expertise in disciplines and subject areas of relevance to cooperative research and training. The Cooperator met the program interests of NPS with expertise, facilities, experience, diversity of programs, and history of collaborative research projects. The Cooperator helps the NPS-CESU to meet its objectives to: Provide research, technical assistance and education to NPS for land management, and research; Develop a program of research, technical assistance and education that involves the biological, physical, social, and cultural sciences needed to address resources issues and interdisciplinary problem-solving at multiple scales and in an ecosystem context at the local, regional, and national level; and Place special emphasis on the working collaboration among NPS, universities, and their related partner institutions. Title: Provide research, technical assistance and education for resource management and research The CESU network seeks to provide scientifically-based information on the nature and status of selected biological, physical, and cultural resources occurring within the parks in a form that increases its utility for making management decisions, conducting scientific research, educating the public, developing effective monitoring programs, and developing management strategies for resource protection. Studying the resources present in NPS parks benefits the Cooperator’s goal of advancing knowledge through scientific discovery, integration, application, and teaching, which lead toward a holistic understanding of our environmental and natural resources. The Cooperator is a public research university, sharing research, educational, and technological strengths with other institutions. Through inter-institutional collaboration, combined with the unique contributions of each constituent institution, the Cooperator strives to contribute substantially to the cultural, economic, environmental, scientific, social and technological advancement of the nation. The NPS expects there to be substantial involvement between itself and the Cooperator in carrying out the activities contemplated in this Agreement. The primary purpose of this study is not the acquisition of property or services for the direct benefit or use by the Federal Government, but rather to accomplish a public purpose of support or stimulation authorized the Legislative Authorities in ARTICLE II. This agreement fulfills the Public Purpose of support and economic stimulation for the following reasons: Projects will engage recipients, partners, communities, and/or visitors in shared environmental stewardship. Projects will promote greater public and private participation in historic preservation programs and activities. The project builds resource stewardship ethics in its participants. The information, products and/or services identified or developed by projects will be shared through a variety of strategies to increase public awareness, knowledge and support for historic preservation and stewardship of the nation’s cultural and historical heritage. Projects will support the Government’s objective to provide opportunities for youth to learn about the environment by spending time working on projects in National Parks. The NPS receives the indirect benefit of completing conservation projects. Projects will motivate youth participants to become involved in the natural, cultural and /or historical resource protection of their communities and beyond. Students gain “real world” or hands-on experience outside of the classroom of natural, cultural and/or historical resource projects. The scientific community and/or researchers external to NPS gains by new knowledge provided through research and related results dissemination of natural, cultural and/or historical resource information. Projects assist in the creation, promotion, facilitation, and/or improvement of the public’s understanding of natural, cultural, historic, recreational and other aspects of areas such as ecological conservation areas, and state and local parks. For performance under this cooperative agreement, the regulations set forth in 2 CFR, Part 200, supersedes OMB Circulars A–21 (2 CFR 220), A–87 (2 CFR 225), A–110, and A–122 (2 CFR 230); Circulars A–89, A–102, and A–133; and the guidance in Circular A–50 on Single Audit Act follow–up apply. The Cooperator shall adhere to 2 CFR, Part 200 in its entirety in addition to any terms and conditions of the master agreement not superseded by 2 CFR 200, as well as the terms and conditions set forth in this agreement. In the event of a conflict between the original terms of the master agreement and 2 CFR, Part 200, relating to this task agreement, 2 CFR, Part 200 shall take precedence.
Goals and Objectives of the Agreement Agreement Goals The goals of this Agreement are to: ● Reduce wildfire risk related to the tree mortality crisis; ● Provide a financial model for funding and scaling proactive forestry management and wildfire remediation; ● Produce renewable bioenergy to spur uptake of tariffs in support of Senate Bill 1122 Bio Market Agreement Tariff (BioMat) for renewable bioenergy projects, and to meet California’s other statutory energy goals; ● Create clean energy jobs throughout the state; ● Reduce energy costs by generating cheap net-metered energy; ● Accelerate the deployment of distributed biomass gasification in California; and ● Mitigate climate change through the avoidance of conventional energy generation and the sequestration of fixed carbon from biomass waste. Ratepayer Benefits:2 This Agreement will result in the ratepayer benefits of greater electricity reliability, lower costs, and increased safety by creating a strong market demand for forestry biomass waste and generating cheap energy. This demand will increase safety by creating an economic driver to support forest thinning, thus reducing the risk of catastrophic wildfire and the associated damage to investor-owned utility (IOU) infrastructure, such as transmission lines and remote substations. Preventing this damage to or destruction of ratepayer-supported infrastructure lowers costs for ratepayers. Additionally, the ability of IOUs to use a higher- capacity Powertainer provides a much larger offset against the yearly billion-dollar vegetation management costs borne by IOUs (and hence by ratepayers). The PT+’s significant increase in waste processing capacity also significantly speeds up and improves the economics of wildfire risk reduction, magnifying the benefits listed above. The PT+ will directly increase PG&E’s grid reliability by reducing peak loading by up to 250 kilowatt (kW), and has the potential to increase grid reliability significantly when deployed at scale. The technology will provide on-demand, non- weather dependent, renewable energy. The uniquely flexible nature of this energy will offer grid managers new tools to enhance grid stability and reliability. The technology can be used to provide local capacity in hard-to-serve areas, while reducing peak demand. Technological Advancement and Breakthroughs:3 This Agreement will lead to technological advancement and breakthroughs to overcome barriers to the achievement of California’s statutory energy goals by substantially reducing the LCOE of distributed gasification, helping drive uptake of the undersubscribed BioMAT program and increasing the potential for mass commercial deployment of distributed biomass gasification technology, particularly through net energy metering. This breakthrough will help California achieve its goal of developing bioenergy markets (Bioenergy Action Plan 2012) and fulfil its ambitious renewable portfolio standard (SB X1-2, 2011-2012; SB350, 2015). The PT+ will also help overcome barriers to achieving California’s greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions reduction (AB 32, 2006) and air quality improvement goals. It reduces greenhouse gas and criteria pollutants over three primary pathways: 1) The PT+’s increased capacity and Combined Heat and Power (CHP) module expand the displacement of emissions from conventional generation; 2) the biochar offtake enables the sequestration of hundreds of tons carbon that would otherwise have been released into the atmosphere; and 3) its increased processing capacity avoids GHG and criteria emissions by reducing the risk of GHG emissions from wildfire and other forms of disposal, such as open pile burning or decomposition. The carbon sequestration potential of the biochar offtake is particularly groundbreaking because very few technologies exist that can essentially sequester atmospheric carbon, which is what the PT+ enables when paired with the natural forest ecosystem––an innovative and groundbreaking bio-energy technology, with carbon capture and storage. Additionally, as noted in the Governor’s Clean Energy Jobs Plan (2011), clean energy jobs are a critical component of 2 California Public Resources Code, Section 25711.5(a) requires projects funded by the Electric Program Investment Charge (EPIC) to result in ratepayer benefits. The California Public Utilities Commission, which established the EPIC in 2011, defines ratepayer benefits as greater reliability, lower costs, and increased safety (See CPUC “Phase 2” Decision 00-00-000 at page 19, May 24, 2012, xxxx://xxxx.xxxx.xx.xxx/PublishedDocs/WORD_PDF/FINAL_DECISION/167664.PDF). 3 California Public Resources Code, Section 25711.5(a) also requires EPIC-funded projects to lead to technological advancement and breakthroughs to overcome barriers that prevent the achievement of the state’s statutory and energy goals. California’s energy goals. When deployed at scale, the PT+ will result in the creation of thousands of jobs across multiple sectors, including manufacturing, feedstock supply chain (harvesting, processing, and transportation), equipment operation, construction, and project development. Additional Co-benefits: ● Annual electricity and thermal savings; ● Expansion of forestry waste markets; ● Expansion/development of an agricultural biochar market; ● Peak load reduction; ● Flexible generation; ● Energy cost reductions; ● Reduced wildfire risk; ● Local air quality benefits; ● Water use reductions (through energy savings); and ● Watershed benefits.
