Carson City biomass plant to get federal funding

(AP) - A biomass plant at the Northern Nevada Correctional Facility in Carson City will receive $620,000 in federal stimulus money.

When it was approved in 2005, prison officials said it would eventually pay for itself and supply most of the power needed at the prison and a nearby conservation camp.

But the plant, which uses small-diameter wood and slash, has struggled financially because of the high cost of transporting those materials from forests to the plant site.

The funding was part of a $57 million effort announced Monday by Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack to create markets for smaller diameter wood and low-value trees removed during forest restoration projects.