Heating with Biomass

Across the Northern Forest, more than 30 towns and cities are wrestling with questions about how renewable energy from forest biomass might fit into their future. Motivated by the steep oil-price increases of 2008, municipalities and school districts are hoping to save money, reduce their environmental impact and lure new businesses with cheaper, greener energy generated from biomass—mainly from the byproducts of harvesting and tree thinnings, as well as sawdust.

But there’s a lot to consider: wood supply, harvesting guidelines, infrastructure needs, ownership options, regulations, costs, and financing are some of the major concerns.

The stakes are high for communities like Colebrook, N.H.—a town that had 21% unemployment and paid $250,000 to heat its schools in 2008. The town is considering creating a district heating system that would offer biomass-generated heat to the downtown buildings, and also produce electricity that could be used or sold back to the grid.

“Our project has the potential to keep money circulating in town instead of being sent out to pay for oil,” says Dick Harris, chairman of the Colebrook District Heating Fact Finding Committee. “It can lower the cost for the business community and can keep people working in the woods.”

To help Dick and his peers across the region wade through their evaluations of proposals for combined-heat-and-power systems, district heating, boiler systems, chip mills and pellet plants, The Center connects them to experts in the field and makes them aware of best practices, funding sources and the latest reports.

“The Center is a great resource,” says Dick. “They help us consider our project as part of the bigger picture. We need to understand issues like how wood supply might be affected if the demand increases because of so many new biomass projects.”

To share the big picture perspective, The Center created an online “visual index” for each state that summarizes the multitude of proposals and known related issues, such as public policy and transmission issues. View Maine Index, New Hampshire Index, Vermont Index, New York Index.

Each index is updated regularly, and we welcome your input. Please contact Allison Grappone, Program Coordinator, with suggestions.