The Workshop

 

The Making Wood Work workshop will guide attendees through the process of implementing woody biomass energy systems, providing the opportunity to glean the knowledge of those who have done it.  By engaging in interactive sessions with recognized national leaders in community biomass projects, you will return home with the knowledge, tools, and support team to make woody biomass energy work in your community.  

 

The workshop has been organized so that there are no concurrent sessions.  This allows attendees to be present at every session—encouraging active engagement of all interests.  The sequence of topics covered will guide participants through the ins and outs of system implementation, at every stage of the process.  

 

Montana:  A Leader in Woody Biomass Projects

As the birthplace of the Fuels for Schools and Beyond (FFS&B) Initiative, Montana is proud to host this national workshop. The first pilot project of the FFS and Beyond Initiative was a biomass boiler installation at Darby Schools in Darby, Montana in 2003.  Since then, six more biomass boilers have been installed in facilities throughout Montana, with four more in the design and construction phases.  Not only does Montana boast two “whole tree” pellet systems, a retrofit into a university campus, and installation in a new school construction, we’re also proud to be a part of the rapid development of innovative technologies for efficient forest biomass collection.  Montana provides an excellent venue to visit these sites viewing different integration designs, boiler manufacturers, and meeting the folks involved in making these projects work.  Through continued collaboration with diverse groups, we have gathered many lessons learned and celebrate our progress.  We look forward to sharing!

 

Who’s coming?

·       Architects

·       Engineers

·       Facility Managers

·       Building Owners

·       City and County Planners

·       Developers

·       Contractors

·       Boiler Manufacturers

·       Boiler Operators

·       Foresters

·       Wood Fuel Suppliers

·       Community Leaders

·       Policy Makers

·       Natural Resource Managers

·       Financing Organizations

·       Economic Development Groups

·       Government Agencies

·       Environmental Interests

·       Energy Interests

·       Researchers

·       Schools and Universities

 

 

Woody Biomass Energy

 

Woody Biomass

Woody biomass is essentially wood and wood wastes and residues that can be used as fuel.  This can include material from forest harvest and wildfire mitigation residues, manufacturing byproducts, urban trees, clean construction and demolition wood waste, or dedicated energy crops.  Processed into chips or pellets, woody biomass fuel can be burned in systems where its energy is harnessed to provide heating, cooling and electricity generation.  Hundreds of biomass fuel systems are currently at work in different parts of the U.S., providing heating, cooling and electricity to public facilities, government complexes, private residences, and entire downtown areas.

 

 

Woody Biomass as a Local Energy Solution

Woody biomass is a renewable and sustainable fuel source that provides solutions to ensure the viability of energy supply, the environment, and economic systems at local, national, and global scales. 

 

By utilizing woody biomass for energy, these are solutions we can implement now:

 

Energy

Energy independence and security

Level the pendulum of volatile fossil fuel costs

Alternative, renewable, and sustainable fuel source

 

Economics

Reduce and stabilize fuel costs for facilities

Invest in local fuel economies

Revive rural America

 

Environment

Reduce net greenhouse gas emissions

Reduce fire hazard and risks to communities, watersheds and habitats

Improve forest health

Reduce air pollution from open burning

Encourage use of otherwise wasted product

Divert usable wood waste from landfills

 

 

Where does biomass energy make sense? 

Biomass is a versatile energy option that can work in a variety of applications including heating, cooling, and energy generation—alone or in combination.

 

Systems are available at all scales, including:

·         Small, manual-fed cordwood furnaces

·         Commercial pellet-fired boilers starting at 100,000 btus/hr

·         Automated wood chip systems starting at 1 million btus/hr

·         Industrial combined heat and power (CHP)

 

Integration of biomass boiler systems within the Fuels for Schools and Beyond program range from 600,000 to 13 million btus and we are nearing completion of a 30 million btu combined heat and power (CHP) system at the state prison in Carson City, Nevada.

 

With a stable supply of wood fuel (from forest or urban sources), enthusiasm and commitment, and the knowledge and experience of collaborating partners, you can make woody biomass work in your community.     

 

 

The Fuels for Schools and Beyond Program

 

The Fuels for Schools and Beyond program is a partnership between the U.S. Forest Service’s State & Private Forestry Division, the State Foresters of Montana, North Dakota, Idaho, Nevada, Utah and Wyoming, and the Bitter Root Resource Conservation and Development Area (RC&D), to promote and facilitate the use of forest biomass waste for heating, cooling and energy in public buildings.

The Fuels for Schools Initiative came out of directives from the National Fire Plan of 2001 which included specific grant dollars under Economic Action Programs (under USDA Forest Service State and Private Forestry) for pilot projects to demonstrate new uses of small diameter and underutilized woody material, as well as projects using proven technologies to use such material. The intent of this focused funding was to develop new markets for woody material that has historically been considered waste, so that the substantial cost of thinning hazardous fuels, which generates little in the way of what is traditionally considered “commercial” timber, could be partially offset by the economic value of “noncommercial” biomass. 

A match is made: After the wildfires in the summer of 2000, which burned over 350,000 acres and 70 structures in the Bitterroot Valley of Montana, a resident of Darby, Montana began to research ways in which to tie fire hazard reduction work with economic development in the valley. He discovered that waste wood was being used to heat a number of schools in the northeastern U.S., and approached community leaders with the idea of using slash (tree limbs, tops and branches) from hazardous fuels reduction projects for heat in Darby’s schools. With the aid of a grant from the Economic Action Program and assistance from the Bitter Root RC&D, USDA Forest Service Forest Products Laboratory and the Biomass Energy Resource Center, a biomass boiler system was planned, designed and installed at Darby and began heating their three schools in the fall of 2003.

The program is born: Through this process, State & Private Forestry personnel in the Northern and Intermountain Regions of the U.S. Forest Service decided to focus their Economic Action Program funding on the Fuels for Schools Initiative.  They announced this strategy in June of 2004 to expand the concept of biomass heat using fuels reduction waste to other schools throughout the Northern and Intermountain Regions. 

The strategy of the FFS Initiative entailed a three phase process.   The first phase involved establishing a demonstration project in each of the region’s states.  Phase two involved expansion of the concept and facilitating the installation of additional biomass boilers.  There are currently nine biomass boilers operating throughout North Dakota, Montana, Idaho and Nevada with seven more in the design or construction phase.  While continuing to provide support to existing projects, the program is now in its third phase of transitioning out of the role as primary funder and seeking to promote the “wood to energy” concept to the private sector. 

Maintaining a strong role in technical assistance, the Fuels for Schools and Beyond partners and staff provide a great resource for implementing community biomass projects.  Our assistance includes helping those in the private and public sectors through knowledge sharing, information dissemination, identifying potential financing opportunities, supply assessment, and overall support and assistance as needed.  We continue to work in collaboration with all of our partners on improving efficiencies of supply infrastructure, advancing local and national policies in biomass utilization, and ensuring the viability of the nation’s forests and communities. 

Visit www.fuelsforschools.info.

 

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Contact Bitter Root RC&D at (406) 363-1444 ext.5 or bitterrootrcd@cybernet1.com