It could be the ultimate expression of a heated sibling rivalry. The younger brother makes something and the older one burns it up. But in this case, Chris and Francis Sharron are partners in a problematic revival of the oldest human heating method: setting fire to wood. Chris Sharron’s West Oregon Wood Products compresses mill [...]
Pelletco Offers Heating Cost Reduction Program To Northeast Schools
Not too long ago, the need to trim school budgets would place sport teams or art programs at risk. Unfortunately today, headlines more often report that teacher jobs are now the victim of drastic cost-cutting measures, often citing rising fossil fuel costs which can destroy even the most responsibly managed school budget. In a groundbreaking, [...]
Vermont Biomass Project Gets Federal Support
A project to help heat Vermont state offices and a number of private buildings in downtown Montpelier with a new biomass system is getting a $1.75 million boost with a federal grant and loan. The nearly $20 million project will be built on the site of the existing state heating plant not far from the [...]
New Biomass Heating System For Oak Ridge National Laboratory
Smoldering wood chips in oxygen-starved chambers will be used to generate steam heat for most of the buildings at Oak Ridge National Laboratory. The new energy-efficient process also provides a market for low-grade wood that loggers would otherwise leave on the forest floor, officials said. The cutting-edge biomass gasification plant replaces four worn-out boilers that [...]
B.C. Timber Company To Install 13 MW Biomass Plant, Sell Power To Utility
West Fraser Timber Company will generate 13 MW of power for its British Columbia plant and the province as a whole, using wood chips converted to biomass fuel. The wood products company has signed a deal with Pratt & Whitney Power Systems, which will deliver a biomass heat recovery power plant, comprising two Turboden 65 [...]
NTE Energy Awarded Patent For Biomass Hybrid Renewable Energy Technology
NTE Energy is pleased to announce it has been awarded a patent by the United States Patent & Trademark Office for its proprietary biomass hybrid renewable energy technology. This technology revolutionizes the production of renewable energy by allowing the simultaneous operation of a biomass energy cycle in concert with a traditional power plant. Patent number [...]
Montana Hospital Unveils Biomass Project
Mineral Community Hospital officially unveiled their new biomass energy system last week. Hospital officials say the new biomass system uses a combustion boiler that burns 180 tons of pellets per year and replaces the facility’s 1975 fuel-oil burning system. It will create fewer emissions and lower heating and cooling costs by over $48,000 annually according [...]
Washington Environmental Groups Flip Flop On Biomass
The biomass industry continues to rise in Washington. Plants are being built or planned across the state, and just weeks ago the Legislature passed a bill that makes electricity produced from older biomass facilities eligible under Initiative 937, the state’s renewable energy mandate. Last month State Commissioner of Public Lands Peter Goldmark released a report [...]
North Carolina Woody Biomass Project Moves Into Final Phase
A first-of-its-kind regional assessment for woody biomass in Southeastern North Carolina is moving into its third and final phase. Conducted in partnership with the Biofuels Center of North Carolina, the study has focused attention on promising woody biomass production sites in Robeson and Sampson counties. The recently completed second phase of the project considered biomass-specific [...]
U.S. Teams With India On Massive New Biofuel Project
The U.S. has just launched a five-year, $125 million alternative energy research project with India, aimed partly at developing biofuels from non-food crops. The biofuel project, funded by the Department of Energy and led by the University of Florida, has the goal of managing climate change and reducing U.S. dependence on petroleum products, and that [...]