CT School's new bio mass heating system

[sweetjetskier]

I just read this article on a small CT school converting their heating systems to bio mass heat:

Hotchkiss Prep School In Salisbury, Conn., Burns Wood Chips To Heat Campus, Clear Air, Save Money — Even Boost Crops - CTnow

 

[mga]

I just read this article on a small CT school converting their heating systems to bio mass heat:

Hotchkiss Prep School In Salisbury, Conn., Burns Wood Chips To Heat Campus, Clear Air, Save Money — Even Boost Crops - CTnow

from that link:

Burning wood chips instead of oil is considered a carbon neutral form of renewable energy,

how often have we all heard or read from anti-wood burning people how wood burning pollutes the air?

maybe they should read the above.

anyhoo.....i wonder if that will have any effect on the price of wood in that area?

 

[Jon B.]

There's a family not too far from me that have a humongous grinder/chipper on a semi trailer. They chip up whole trees and sell 'em to a generating plant in Benson, Minnesota - Fibro-Minn, I think it's called.

The plant also burns soybean and corn 'straw' and turkey litter (bedding and manure). Any biomass that's dry and flammable works for them.

Jon

 

[dingeryote]

That's a pretty neat and intelligent solution for thier situation. Good thinking outside of the box.

How long they will have access to cost effective wood chips is the quandry.

It used to be wood chips went to the land fill, then went to mulch and landscaping, and now heat.
Other innovative uses will drive demand and cost in the future, so I hope they have a good and cheap supply guaranteed for 20+ years.

Stay safe!
Dingeryote

 

[woodguy105]

Great article-

Connecticut is heavily forested and at least in my neck of the woods there are many forest farms that are managed. So between private landowners, tree service companies and municipalities clearing lines and roads they'll be a growing market for the chips.

I suspect that wood demolition debris (clean and burnable) will become an industry to it's own too. I know I pull great scraps from the dumpsters at our new construction sites for burning and for misc. projects around the house.

Good to see this "waste" used to lessen oil dependence.

 

[smokee]

from that link:
how often have we all heard or read from anti-wood burning people how wood burning pollutes the air?

These ppl get to me. Unless they're living in cold, dark homes they have a carbon footprint. Where the hell do they think their electricity comes from? What do they heat with? Too many people today have a "cause" and most are misguided. I'm sure their Prius gas engine never turns on.

 

[ChipMonger]

Good idea. I hope it works out for them.

I was talking to a logger buddy of mine, and he made the comment "I wish i could sell the chips easily" he literally has a 3acre cleared portion of his property that is all chips, and cant get rid of them. He also takes the stumps that he pulls with his link belt and other useless (to him) pieces and runs them through a morbark processor, best i can describe it is a tub grinder with the tub turned vertical. He loads the tray area and then a large steel plate powered by a hydraulic ram pushes the material into the spinning cutting wheel, makes chips, is that you want to call them, that are the size of a baseball. Thing is powered by a 600hp V12 detroit i believe. Enough rambling, hope it works out for the school.

 

[BSD]

there is no shortage of wood chips around here. we have problems finding places to get rid of them after big storms like the hurricane we just went through. we're generating 15-30 yards of chips a day with one small crew. imagine a 3-4 crew company... i wish i could make a small scale version to burn at my house.

i have thought about trying to capture the heat from a composting pile of chips some how but can't figure a good way to do it, without having to replumb every time we rotate chips.

 

[zogger]

there is no shortage of wood chips around here. we have problems finding places to get rid of them after big storms like the hurricane we just went through. we're generating 15-30 yards of chips a day with one small crew. imagine a 3-4 crew company... i wish i could make a small scale version to burn at my house.

i have thought about trying to capture the heat from a composting pile of chips some how but can't figure a good way to do it, without having to replumb every time we rotate chips.

Any organic farmers near you? They might take some big loads.

 

[cantoo]

Carbon neutral and it takes a 600 hp V12 detroit to make the chips? Must be a real fuel efficient motor. Still glad they are using a renewable resourse but you have to remember the oil needed to cut the trees, the oil to make the chips, the oil to truck the chips and on and on. It's like me saying I save money by burning wood when if reality if you add up all the "toys" I have bought to use I will have to live to be 200 years old to "save enough money to pay for them. I might have a few more saws and equipment than I need though.
Gotta compare apples to apples and add in all costs.

 

[Dalmatian90]

Yes and no.

Don't forget petroleum itself uses petroleum -- especially if you're comparing wood chips to heating oil which itself takes extensive amounts of fossil fuel to refine and transport. So "carbon neutral" or not, it's significantly less to cut, chip, and transport locally then from the Canadian maritimes, Texas, or Venezuela...and THEN the heat isn't from a fossil source but instead repeats in a current cycle.

Natural Gas, especially coming from Pennsylvania, and where it has far less processing and transportation (pipeline) energy needs might be in the same range of carbon emissions as the petroleum needed to obtain wood chips. I'm not sure; it would be closer to it then heating oil though. However, Salisbury is likely not currently served by natural gas -- though a proposed massive expansion of our natural gas network is now being negotiated by the State, Utilities, and Banks (it's roughly a $2.5 Billion project that involves laying 900 miles of new pipes to serve places like this school, with the goal being to switch our heating mix from 30% NG / 60% oil to 50% Gas / 40% oil within the decade...the banks get involved since many consumers would need loans to convert from oil to gas, though their savings should then offset the loan payments).

As for saving money with wood heat, I have no doubts it is cheaper for me to heat with it. SIGNIFICANTLY cheaper. I have some but not excessive toys. Right now I figure my marginal cash and capitalized costs for my heating run about $160/winter. That doesn't include certain things I would have regardless of burning wood (I would own my 12 acres and pickup whether or not I used it for heating). I'll admit that's exceptionally cheap, and in a few years when I have everything the way I want it I'll probably be more like $350/winter. Which is probably less then the minimum delivery for heating oil nowdays.

 

[cantoo]

I just want everyone to state the true costs so there can be no arguing. So if this school gets natural gas in 5 years what happens to the bio? It sure isn't going to be paid off by then, so does that mean more wasted money when it's shut down because natural gas is cheaper? We have tons of solar panels going up here that are heavily subisided by the government (my tax dollars) to me this doesn't make sense. If it can't support itself then how is it more cost effective, I realize it is helping saving the planet and that has a value but there is lots of resourses used in making these collectors too, would we be better off waiting until technology makes them cost effective without the government money?

 

[dmlefevre]

Also costs $50k a year to attend that school as a boarder, over $40k to commute. For high school. To burn chips for heat? Nice idea, I get it, but they could burn dollars.