Biomass Energy

Mount Wachusett Community College is dedicated to promoting and demonstrating the role of forest biomass as a sustainable renewable energy source.  The college broke ground in April 2002 for the construction of a new wood biomass heating system that came on line for the 2002-03 heating season, replacing the current all electric system.  This new system is saving the college an estimated $300,000 per year.  A second phase of the project will see the installation of a biomass cogeneration system that will provide both heat, air conditioning, and electricity.  Please see the story of the Mount Wachusett Community College Biomass Conversion Project, and the Mount Wachusett Community College CHP project.

Wood Biomass Energy

Definition: Wood (solid wood, tree trimmings, wood chips, sawdust, bark, and shavings) used to produce heating, electricity, or other forms of energy.

Wood has been utilized as a fuel since the beginning of civilization and it is still the main source of energy in many developing nations.  Many homes in our region are equipped with fireplaces or wood stoves.  Modern biomass energy, however, is similar to these traditional systems only in that they all use wood as a fuel.  Tremendous technological advances over the past few decades are now resulting in wood biomass energy systems that are clean, efficient, and economical.  Biomass is rapidly emerging as a locally produced alternative to fossil fuels.

Wood Biomass Energy is:

• Renewable:  Utilizing the principles of scientific forest management our forests can provide a continuous and sustainable yield of wood biomass.  Biomass systems also can utilize tree trimmings, industrial waste wood, and wood from demolition and construction wastes, materials that are currently burdening our landfills and waste systems.

• Clean:  Biomass use reduces the buildup of greenhouse gases and can also have a positive effect on gases in the atmosphere that cause acid rain and are damaging to human health.

• Economical:  Biomass comes from local resources and keeps energy dollars close to home.  Money spent on oil and gas are a huge drain on local economies.  When a community uses biomass it creates forestry and agricultural jobs in the surrounding region.

  A description of the College's conversion project is available and will be updated periodically.  We have also prepared a report providing a three-year analysis of the Athol-Royalston Regional School District Wood Energy Heating Conversion Project.

Building on the College's successful biomass conversion project, Mount Wachusett Community College is embarking on other renewable energy projects and initiatives.

United Kingdom Partnership

In January 2005, Mount Wachusett Community College hosted a nine member team of biomass energy and forestry experts from the United Kingdom.Team members were selected to bring together a range of relevant expertise and background including:

• Large-scale (UK Forestry Commission) and small-scale foresters with particular experience in the woodfuel market

• A woodfuel processing equipment manufacturer and importer

• An academic representing training, and evaluation and dissemination of best practice

• A representative of regional woodfuel initiative

• An expert on standards and quality assurance in solid biofuels

The task of the mission was to identify whether there are procedures or equipment being used in the USA that could help to make the harvesting, handling, processing, distribution, delivery or storage of wood for heating and energy applications more efficient and/or cost effective in the UK.

Team members spent a cold week in New England investigating:

• Mechanized harvesting of hardwoods

• Felling methods

• Equipment preferences

• Chipper technologies

• Handling of timber and chips

• Transport, logistics, delivery and storage of chips

The very successful mission lead to a comprehensive final report and Rob Rizzo delivering a presentation on Biomass Energy in New England at Coventry England in May 2005.

The following is a short list of renewable energy presentations delivered by Rob Rizzo:

• Northeast Sustainable Energy Association Building Energy 2007, Boston, MA, March 15, 2007, Small Modular Biomass Gasification

• Northeast Energy and Commerce Association, March 1, 2007, Newton, MA, New England Biomass Projects: Successful Renewable Energy Project Development in New England

• Densification of Woody Biomass for Gasification Feedstock poster presented at Bioenergy 2005, Jyvaskyla, Finland September 2005

• A Brief Look at Biomass Energy in the Northeastern United States presented to US Embassy Officiers in Helsinki Finland September 2005

A short list of reports, charts and other useful biomass energy information:

• MA Sustainable Forest Bioenergy Initiative
  Two Massachusetts State agencies the Department of Energy Resources and the Department of Conservation and Recreation have identified biomass as a renewable energy resource with tremendous potential in Massachusetts due to the state's 3 million acres of underutilized forestland and other large sources of wood. This broad initiative will facilitate the development of biomass energy projects and fuel supply infrastructure in the Commonwealth.

Below are several reports developed from the Bioenergy Initiative:

• Forest Harvesting Systems for Biomass Production (updated Feb '08)

• Woody Biomass Supply Resource Assessment Reports:  
  • Western MA (5 Counties) – Resource Assessment
   
  • Regional Resource Assessment – Worcester
   
  • Regional Resource Assessment – Springfield
   
  • Regional Resource Assessment – Pittsfield

• Economic Impact of Biomass Energy in Massachusetts (corrected)

• Biomass Energy Crop - Massachusetts Potential

• Forest Biomass Harvesting - Silviculture and Ecological Considerations

• Strategic Plan for Establishing Biomass Supply Infrastructure (planned)

• Advanced Biopower – Technology Assessment

• Massachusetts Woody Biomass Report, developed by the MA Biomass Energy Working Group

• The Commonwealth of Massachusetts, Division of Energy Resources, Renewable Portfolio Standard, Annual RPS Report for 2003

• Wood Fuel Financial Feasibility Spreadsheets and manual developed by Bob Govett, University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point

• Biomass Production Tax Credit chart assembled by the Northeast Regional Biomass Program

• The Massachusetts State Sustainability newsletter is a bi-monthly series published by the Massachusetts State Sustainability Program which works to minimize the environmental impacts resulting from state government operatons

• Mount Wachusett Community College greenhouse gas reduction chart

• USGS Are We Running Out of Oil

• Massachusetts Technology Collaborative has a project description of the College's biomass heating project

• Biomass Provisions in the 2005 Energy Bill provided by Innovative Natural Resource Solutions, LLC