https://www.dnr.wa.gov/news/northport-school-district’s-new-wood-pellet-boiler-part-pilot-project-supporting-bioenergy

A carbon-neutral wood pellet boiler will soon provide heat for students and staff at a school in Northport, thanks to a bioenergy pilot project supported by the Washington State Department of Natural Resources (DNR), the Washington State Department of Commerce, and the Washington State University Energy Program.

 The project on Northport’s preschool-through-12th-grade campus is the first time the state has funded the installation of a wood pellet boiler in a public building and is part of a larger effort to promote the wood-energy industry in Washington.

 Supporting the bioenergy industry is a component of DNR’s 20-Year Forest Health Strategic Plan, which aims to restore 1.25 million acres of unhealthy forests in Washington. In addition to taking actions to increase forest health and decrease the risk of catastrophic wildfires, the plan calls for using forest restoration and management strategies as an economic catalyst in rural communities, such as turning wood byproducts into pellets.

 “Demand exists for bioenergy, and we want that industry and its jobs right here in Washington, including in our rural timber communities,” said Commissioner of Public Lands Hilary Franz, the head of DNR. “From timber byproducts that would otherwise get burned or thrown away, we can create cleaner and more efficient fuels to heat our homes, businesses and public places.”

 After looking at a number of schools in the state, the WSU Energy Program analyzed and recommended the Northport site, and the Department of Commerce’s Energy Division allocated state and federal funding for the project. Commerce, WSU Energy Program, and DNR are all on the Washington State Wood Energy Team, which works to develop biomass energy projects that complement the state’s forest restoration goals.

 “Bringing clean-burning wood energy to Northport provides a model for how timber-dependent rural communities in Washington can reduce infrastructure costs, improve resiliency and create value for work in the woods,” Department of Commerce Director Brian Bonlender said. “We hope to see other public facilities in the state embrace viable energy alternatives that can help strengthen rural communities.”

 For the school district, the project came at the perfect time – one of its diesel boilers was failing, requiring constant repairs.

 “As a small school district in a rural community, it can be challenging to budget for large maintenance upgrades, so participating in this project felt like a great opportunity for us,” Northport School District Superintendent Don Baribault said. “The new boiler is more environmentally sound and will provide long-term fuel cost savings, and the price of wood pellets is much more stable than the price of oil.”

 Northport is in Stevens County in Northeast Washington. Baribault said the pellets will initially come from an Idaho supplier, but he hopes that as the bioenergy industry takes off in Washington, there will soon be a supplier even closer to home.

 The new biomass boiler was installed in a modified shipping container off-site to reduce construction costs, and crews are completing the final installation this week at the school. Wisewood Energy, a Portland-based biomass energy developer, led the project’s construction and final design.

 “Wisewood Energy is excited to be a part of this project,” company President Andrew Haden said. “The Northport school biomass system is a great example of state-of-the-art technology that’s very clean and efficient, and makes use of resources that can be produced in the local or regional area. We see a lot of opportunities for more projects like it.”

 

Today is National Bioenergy Day

 The boiler project is also part of this year’s National Bioenergy Day, sponsored by the U.S. Forest Service and the Biomass Power Association. Across the country today, communities are highlighting the ecological, social, and economic benefits of a locally sourced renewable wood-energy industry.

 “Renewable wood energy empowers Western communities to sustainably manage their forests and control their local energy needs,” said Julie Tucker, national lead for wood energy for the U.S. Forest Service. “Wood pellets can transform rural America by converting forestry leftovers into a valuable wood energy product that reduces energy costs, creates local jobs that cannot be outsourced, and supports sustainable management of one of our country’s most valuable natural resources – forests.”

 For more information about the Northport boiler project, visit DNR’s Ear to the Ground blog.

 

 

Above, the 340 MBH biomass boiler is expected to use about 70 tons of wood pellets a year, saving the school from burning about 8,500 gallons of fuel oil each year. (Wisewood Energy photo)

 

Thanks to Anna Simet from Biomass Magazine for the photos of Koda Energy’s Bioenergy Day event!

This year Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL) Center for BioEnergy Sustainability (CBES) celebrated Bioenergy Day a week early in order to leverage the grand reopening of the Oak Ridge, TN American Museum of Science and Energy (AMSE) held on October 18^th. The ribbon cutting event was attended by Congressman Fleischmann, a DOE under-secretary, and other state, local and national officials. Several researchers “manned” the “Get Into Green” ORNL Science Fair Trailer parked outside the museum and chatted with visitors about the potential environmental, social and economic benefits of renewable bioenergy production, and about the benefits of incorporating plant materials into 3D printed objects being made at ORNL’s Additive Manufacturing Facility.

https://www.fs.fed.us/news/releases/usda-forest-service-announces-8-million-expand-wood-products-and-wood-energy-markets

OCTOBER 24, 2018 AT 11:00 AM EDT – The U.S.D.A. Forest Service invites grant applications for projects that expand wood product and wood energy markets, reduce wildfire risk, and improve forest health. Applications will be accepted through Jan. 23, 2019.

Grants provided through the agency’s Wood Innovations Program simultaneously boost local economies while helping make communities safer through the reduction of hazardous fuels on the landscape.

In 2019 the program will invest up to $8 million in projects designed to have a long-term impact on both Forest Service and other forest lands. Funding is available to support a diverse range of activities, such as completing the engineering designs, cost analyses, and permitting necessary in the final stages of commercial construction projects that use wood as a primary building material; establishing Statewide Wood Utilization Teams and Statewide Wood Energy Teams; and developing clusters of wood energy projects in a geographic area.

Since 2005 over 310 grants have been awarded to small businesses, non-profits, institutions of higher education, tribes, states, and local governments to promote the economic and environmental health of communities. Since 2013, this funding has also helped establish 10 Statewide Wood Utilization Teams and 22 Statewide Wood Energy Teams that collectively expand and support wood products and wood energy markets.

This week, Oct. 21-27, is National Forest Products Week, when we recognize how vital American forests are to our well-being and national prosperity. Today, Oct. 24, is National Bioenergy Day, a day to support and highlight the many benefits that bioenergy provides at the local level, including vibrant rural economies and forest health.

The deadline for submitting grant applications is Jan. 23, 2019. Information on how to apply is available on the Wood Innovations homepage.

The mission of the U.S.D.A. Forest Service, an agency of the U.S. Department of Agriculture, is to sustain the health, diversity and productivity of the nation’s forests and grasslands to meet the needs of present and future generations. The agency manages 193 million acres of public land, provides assistance to state and private landowners, and maintains world-renowned forestry research and wildland fire management organizations. National forests and grasslands contribute more than $30 billion to the American economy annually and support nearly 360,000 jobs. These lands also provide 30 percent of the nation’s surface drinking water to cities and rural communities; approximately 60 million Americans rely on drinking water that originated from the National Forest System.

https://www.vernonmorningstar.com/news/enderby-event-opens-doors-to-alternative-energy/

As part of National Bioenergy Day in Enderby, local biomass boiler company Fink Machine Inc. is showing off its demonstration boiler used to heat 12 businesses and buildings in the community.

The public will view how Fink Machine builds their boiler houses and how the clean technology works utilizing woodchips or pellets to bring awareness of National Bioenergy Day Oct. 24. Bioenergy is the use of any organic material, such as chips, pellets, forest thinnings, residues, agricultural waste or urban wood waste to generate heating, cooling and electricity.

Related: Alternative energy heats up in Enderby

Hospitals, college campuses, school districts and government buildings use bioenergy for heat. Many commercial, institutional and district energy installations are heated with wood biomass boilers in Canada in an effort to reduce operating costs and Greenhouse gas emissions.

Fink Machine, located in Enderby, is a biomass boiler company that has been in business for nearly two decades. For more information, visit www.finkmachine.com.

Fink Machine Inc. will open its doors to the public as part of National Bioenergy Day Oct. 24. (Photo submitted)

 

See the link below for all the latest bioenergy day twitter posts!

https://twitter.com/search?src=typd&q=%23bioenergyday

https://www.energy.gov/eere/bioenergy/downloads/4-fast-facts-about-biomass

 

 

Please see the language of the resolution below:

SR185, As Adopted by Senate, September 26, 2018
Senator Booher offered the following resolution:
Senate Resolution No. 185.
A resolution to recognize October 24, 2018, as National Bioenergy Day.
Whereas, Biomass power is homegrown, Michigan-made domestic energy generated from
Michigan resources by Michigan workers; and
Whereas, Such power generation has provided valuable, renewable energy services to the
people of the state of Michigan for more than 30 years; and
Whereas, Biomass power generation provides the state with significant renewable energy;
and
Whereas, The generation of biomass power is an important employer in communities that
rely on local forest resources for economic prosperity, jobs, and quality of life; and
Whereas, Biomass power generation is a baseload generation that provides significant
support to the electrical grid and improves its reliability and resiliency; and
Whereas, The generation of biomass power diversifies the state’s energy portfolio; and
Whereas, Biomass power generation optimizes the value of Michigan’s forest resources by
recovering energy from wood fiber that would otherwise go to waste; and
Whereas, Such power provides economically sound, environmentally beneficial tools for
keeping Michigan forests healthy and protected from wildfire; now, therefore, be it
Resolved by the Senate, That the members of this legislative body recognize October 24,
2018, as National Bioenergy Day along with its decades of contributions to Michigan’s economy, our
energy portfolio, forests, and the wise management of wood wastes and byproducts in our Great
Lakes State.