A5
THE ASTORIAN • TUESDAY, MAY 10, 2022
Oregon fi rm generates
biochar with wood waste
SPORTS
SENIOR
SPOTLIGHT
Tara Lair,
Seaside
By GEORGE PLAVEN
Capital Press
Sports: Cross-country, softball
(all-league)
Favorite sports moment: Step-
ping on the fi eld for the fi rst time
after losing an entire season to the
pandemic! Felt so good to fi nally
be back!
Where you see yourself in fi ve
years: Hopefully chasing my
dream of becoming a sports
journalist.
Favorite road trip: When I was
9 my parents and I traveled to
Moore, Oklahoma, to deliver
supplies to tornado victims. It was
a very eye-opening experience for
me and I enjoyed spending it with
my parents.
Favorite pre game music: Love
me some oldies. J Bieb (Justin Bie-
ber), Hannah Montana, all those
goodies!
Most infl uential coach or
teacher: I’ve had a lot of amazing
coaches, but the one that has
infl uenced me the most in life and
in sports is my dad. He’s coached
me my entire softball career and I
couldn’t be more thankful for the
bond it created for us.
Advice for young teammates:
Hustle. Never give up, always try
your best even when your back is
against the wall. Lead by example,
the next generation is always
watching.
PREP ROUNDUP
Valiants win
girls golf district title
PREP SPORTS SCHEDULE
Valley Catholic jumped to an early lead
after Day 1, then posted another solid score
on the second day to win the team title
in the District 1 4A/3A/2A/1A girls golf
match, held Thursday and Friday at Quail
Valley Golf Course in Banks.
The Valiants fi nished with a fi nal round
score of 823 (408-415) to hold off the sec-
ond place Lady Braves, who carded an 887
team score on their home course.
Valley Catholic and Banks earned
the top two state qualifying team spots,
while North Marion (937) was third, fol-
lowed by Astoria (949) and Riverdale
(1,029).
The individual medalist was Ava Austria
of Catlin Gabel, who fi nished with a 149
(70-79) to edge defending state cham-
pion Challin Kim (80-77—157) of Valley
Catholic.
Oregon Episcopal’s Cayton Smith was
a distant third (187), followed by Joceyln
Janecek of Banks (190) and Valley Catho-
lic’s Keeli Satterfi eld (193) as the fi ve indi-
vidual state qualifi ers.
Astoria junior Caleigh Peterson, who
helped Seaside to a fourth place fi nish at
state a year ago, made the district’s all-re-
gional team with a top 10 fi nish in the dis-
trict event.
Peterson led the Lady Fish with a 215
(111-104), followed by Marlee Both (227),
Katie Jo Strimple-Fields (252), Ava Davis
(255) and Mia Rochon (309).
Holly Fergus (248) was Seaside’s lone
golfer; Warrenton golfers competing were
Savannah Bigelow (241) and Jezalynn
Stergell (247).
OREGON CAPITAL
INSIDER
TUESDAY
Baseball — Knappa at Neah-Kah-Nie, 4 p.m.
Softball — Dayton at Warrenton, 4:30 p.m.; Seaside at
Astoria, 5 p.m.
WEDNESDAY
Baseball — Seaside at Astoria, 5 p.m.; Catlin Gabel at
Warrenton (2), 3 p.m.
Softball — Seaside at Tillamook (2), 11 a.m.; Knappa at
Faith Bible, 3 p.m.
THURSDAY
Baseball — Warrenton at Clatskanie (2), 3 p.m.
Softball — Astoria at Seaside, 5 p.m.; Naselle at War-
renton, 4 p.m.
Track — Cowapa League Championships (Scappoose
High School), 2 p.m.
Astoria track teams
tune up for state
In one last invitational before the post-
season meets begin, the Astoria girls and
boys track teams showed that they are both
prepared to make a run for state trophies
later this month, by sweeping the annual
Dick Baker Invitational meet on Saturday
at Gladstone.
The Astoria boys won eight separate
events to rack up 210 points, well ahead of
Molalla (140) and Gladstone (105). Faith
Bible and Vernonia were the only other
teams competing.
The Lady Fishermen won fi ve events
to fi nish with 180 points, ahead of Molalla
(139).
Astoria will be among the team favor-
ites later this week in the Cowapa League
Championships, held Thursday and Friday
at Scappoose High School.
— The Astorian
George Plaven/Capital Press
Biochar is a carbon-rich material created
when organic biomass, such as wood, is
roasted at high temperatures in a low
oxygen environment.
their disposal costs in the short term while
providing an incentive for them to research
and develop new commercial products. He
envisions marketing a proprietary blend of
topsoil and biochar to farmers and home
gardeners.
“I think the agricultural markets could
be a big opportunity for us,” Freres said.
The company is now experimenting
with techniques to separate benefi cial bio-
char from the non-combustible ash. Once
that process is refi ned, Freres said they
hope to start product development in the
next year or two. A portion of the feedstock
used in the cogeneration plant comes from
Freres’ timber operations, though a major-
ity is collected from outside the company,
including urban manufacturers in the Port-
land area.
All of the unsalable wood is mulched
and fed into the plant, where it is burned
at between 1,400 and 1,500 degrees
Fahrenheit.
“These are materials that are really not
useful for anything else,” Freres said. “We
don’t let anything go to waste.”
Freres said he believes wood products
play a key role in sequestering carbon and
combating climate change.
“Frankly, we feel like our industry is
one of the greenest on the planet,” Freres
said. “It’s products like this that really bur-
nish our environmental credentials.”
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WEDNESDAY THURSDAY
LYONS — Tech giant Microsoft is
investing in carbon credits generated by an
Oregon wood products company to help
reduce, and eventually erase, its carbon
footprint.
The off sets come from biochar pro-
duced at Freres Engineered Wood, which
manufactures plywood and veneer in the
Santiam Canyon east of Salem.
Biochar is a carbon-rich material cre-
ated when organic biomass, such as wood,
is roasted at high temperatures in a low
oxygen environment. It is essentially a
fi nely grained charcoal, and can be used as
a soil amendment to improve fertility.
Because it also sequesters carbon, bio-
char is marketed as a tool to mitigate the
eff ects of climate change.
Biochar from Freres was certifi ed last
year by Puro.earth, a marketplace on which
companies can buy or trade carbon cred-
its to off set their emissions from other
sources. Microsoft has agreed to purchase
these credits as part of a sweeping program
to become carbon negative by 2030.
Carbon negative means Microsoft aims
to sequester more carbon than it emits each
year.
ACT Commodities, a fi nancial institu-
tion that backs climate projects around the
world, brokered the deal for Freres, a fami-
ly-run business founded in 1922.
“As part of the path to our carbon-nega-
tive goal by 2030, we are glad to purchase
biochar-based carbon removal credits via
ACT from the Pacifi c Northwest-based
supplier Freres,” said Elizabeth Wilmott,
carbon program director for Microsoft.
Freres Engineered Wood — formerly
Freres Lumber Co. — has long made bio-
char as a byproduct of its cogeneration
plant in Lyons, said Kyle Freres, the com-
pany’s vice president.
Built in 2007, the plant runs around the
clock burning ground up tree bark, limbs
and other woody debris to create the steam
that powers a massive turbine generator,
creating enough electricity for about 5,000
homes.
Portland General Electric, a regional
utility, buys the electricity. Meanwhile,
what’s left over is a combination of ash
and biochar that Freres previously sold
to farmers. Not only is biochar more than
70% carbon, but its porous nature allows
soil to retain more water, growing more
robust crops.
In recent years, however, Freres said it
has become increasingly diffi cult to man-
age such large volumes of biochar. “Farm-
ers are seasonal, and our business isn’t,” he
explained.
The company opted to send the excess
carbon-rich material to a landfi ll 45 miles
away near Corvallis.
By selling carbon credits to Microsoft,
Freres said the added revenue will off set
FRIDAY
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We Service What We Sell
REGIONAL FORECAST
Shown is today’s weather. Temperatures are today’s highs and tonight’s lows.
Seattle
56 43
Clearing
54 45
53 43
A passing
shower
Showers in the
morning
54 46
58 47
A shower
Partly sunny
61 49
High clouds
57 47
Cloudy
Aberdeen
Olympia
55/44
57/43
Wenatchee
Tacoma
Moses
Lake
57/39
ALMANAC
UNDER THE SKY
TODAY'S TIDES
Astoria through Sunday
Tonight’s Sky: Use Big Dipper
hand to “Arc to Artcurus.”
Astoria / Port Docks
Temperatures
High/low ................................ 54/39
Normal high/low .................. 60/45
Record high .................. 82 in 2020
Record low .................... 34 in 1990
Precipitation
Sunday ..................................... 0.07”
Month to date ........................ 2.31”
Normal month to date ......... 1.04”
Year to date .......................... 34.62”
Normal year to date ........... 32.51”
Forecasts and graphics provided by
AccuWeather, Inc. ©2022
Time
8:47 a.m. 6.1 3:22 a.m.
10:20 p.m. 6.8 3:44 p.m.
Cape Disappointment
8:29 a.m. 6.0 2:57 a.m.
10:03 p.m. 6.6 3:05 p.m.
Source: Jim Todd, OMSI
Hammond
SUN AND MOON
Sunrise today .................. 5:49 a.m.
Sunset tonight ............... 8:35 p.m.
Moonrise today ............. 2:12 p.m.
Moonset today ............... 3:42 a.m.
Full
Last
New
First
8:45 a.m. 6.3 3:10 a.m.
10:14 p.m. 7.0 3:22 p.m.
Warrenton
8:42 a.m. 6.5 3:06 a.m.
10:15 p.m. 7.2 3:28 p.m.
Knappa
9:24 a.m. 6.4 4:23 a.m.
10:57 p.m. 7.0 4:45 p.m.
Depoe Bay
May 15 May 22 May 30 June 7
7:45 a.m.
9:19 p.m.
5.9 2:20 a.m.
6.6 2:30 p.m.
3.3
1.0
3.7
1.1
3.5
1.1
3.4
1.1
2.8
0.9
3.5
0.8
City
Atlanta
Boston
Chicago
Dallas
Denver
Honolulu
Houston
Los Angeles
Miami
New York City
Phoenix
San Francisco
Wash., DC
Today
Hi/Lo/W
Wed.
Hi/Lo/W
81/59/s
57/46/s
88/69/s
91/72/pc
77/48/s
84/73/s
92/72/pc
68/49/pc
85/70/s
70/48/s
91/65/s
60/49/pc
69/50/pc
83/61/pc
57/50/pc
86/68/c
92/70/pc
87/55/pc
86/72/s
93/71/s
67/50/s
84/70/t
70/53/pc
87/58/pc
62/49/s
69/55/s
Weather (W): s-sunny, pc-partly cloudy,
c-cloudy, sh-showers, t-thunderstorms,
r-rain, sf-snow fl urries, sn-snow, i-ice.
60/39
Hermiston
The Dalles 65/44
Enterprise
Pendleton 48/28
59/39
64/43
La Grande
53/29
60/39
NATIONAL CITIES
High (ft.) Time Low (ft.)
53/34
Kennewick Walla Walla
59/40 Lewiston
67/43
58/39
Salem
Pullman
62/34
Longview
56/43 Portland
61/43
55/35
Yakima 65/36
57/39
Astoria
Spokane
61/39
Corvallis
59/34
Albany
60/34
John Day
Eugene
Bend
61/37
56/28
51/27
Ontario
60/35
Caldwell
Burns
51/26
58/34
Medford
57/36
Klamath Falls
44/23
City
Baker City
Brookings
Ilwaco
Newberg
Newport
Today
Hi/Lo/W
51/29/sh
54/38/pc
54/45/pc
59/36/pc
53/41/pc
Wed.
Hi/Lo/W
57/33/pc
53/43/c
55/47/c
60/45/c
51/45/c
City
North Bend
Roseburg
Seaside
Springfi eld
Vancouver
Today
Hi/Lo/W
56/40/pc
61/36/pc
56/44/pc
61/36/pc
59/40/pc
Wed.
Hi/Lo/W
55/44/c
62/43/c
54/46/c
64/44/c
60/46/c