Wood Seen as Viable Heating Source for Some Public Buildings Here

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Bethel Citizen (Bethel, Maine), May 7, 2009
By Alison Aloisio

Research presented at a recent Bethel forum shows that Gould Academy and Telstar could save significant money on heating fuel costs by changing to a wood-chip boiler system.

Gould CFO Peter Rackliffe and representatives from the Biomass Energy Resource Center reported on their separate studies of the local potential for wood chip/pellet fuel.

The results were presented at a forum at Gould hosted by the Mahoosuc Land Trust.

Gould
Gould currently uses 150,000 gallons of heating oil annually, Rackliffe said. Converting to wood chips could save an estimated $150,000 in the first year, his research showed. The calculations were done when oil was $2.10 a gallon, he said.

“We’re in the middle of a great place for this kind of energy scenario,” Rackliffe said. “We’d like to buy all our energy from people who work and live in this community. We’re also an educational institution. This sets an example for the kids we work with.”

Rackliffe said his school has had two engineering studies done in the past three years. “It was obvious that this was worth pursuing,” he said.

Heating Gould would require approximately 1,900 tons of wood a year—roughly two or three truckloads of chips per week, he said. Before making a final decision, Rackliffe said, Gould would carefully consider the logistics of delivery and storage at its village location.

Public buildings
In a separate effort, the Biomass Energy Resource Center of Montpelier, VT conducted a preliminary study of the potential to heat public buildings in the Bethel region with chips or pellets. The research was part of the Mahoosuc Initiative, which, according to the MLT, addresses “conservation and community vibrancy issues” in the region.

BERC representatives said that buildings larger than 40,000 square feet are the best candidates for wood-chip heat.

Because pellets provide more uniform heating, they are better suited for smaller buildings.

According to SAD44, Crescent Park Elementary School measures 42,486 square feet and uses 25,000 gallons a year.

BERC program assistant Sarah Galbraith provided preliminary estimates for potential savings, stressing that more in-depth study would be needed before firm conclusions could be drawn. Her figures included the installation costs of wood heat systems. She said that CPS, utilizing a pellet system, could possibly save $1.5 million over a 30-year period.
In the shorter term, the savings would total about $36,000, or 39 percent, for next year (assuming a cost for oil of $3.50 per gallon). And because the school’s size is borderline, a wood-chip system might also be an option, she said.

The larger Telstar complex would likely call for a wood-chip system, Galbraith said. It measures 109,720 square feet and currently uses 42,000 gallons of heating oil a year.
She estimated conversion to a wood-chip system could save approximately $3 million over 30 years.

“Fuel cost savings could be $99,000, or 64 percent next year,” she said. (Galbraith’s numbers for CPS and THS listed here were provided Friday, after she obtained more accurate square footages and fuel usage for the buildings.)

Galbraith also provided estimated numbers for buildings in Andover and Upton. While there would be no financial gain in heating the Andover Elementary School with wood, she said, combining the Andover Town Hall, Historical Society and Congregational Church in a single-pellet system would be worthwhile.

A system installation would cost approximately $112,500, but would save $9,000 over 30 years, she said. In the first year, the savings would be 39 percent.

And converting the Upton Town Office to a pellet system, at a cost of $3,500, would save approximately $20,000 over 30 years, or 24 percent in the first year.

After presenting the estimates, Galbraith said the next logical steps would include conducting a detailed feasibility study, identifying possible funding sources, and educating the public about the benefits.

Supply system
Last week’s forum participants also considered the potential local economic benefits of using wood chips supplied by area loggers. Forester Harry Dwyer had surveyed loggers, foresters, landowners and other possible stakeholders for their views. He asked loggers what they thought of a scenario in which there could be “a market for wood chips 40 miles closer [than existing ones], and [loggers] get paid a lot more.”

“It was a pretty easily-supported concept,” Dwyer said.

He acknowledged that loggers might have to invest in different equipment and follow new harvesting standards.

“But there are enough savings in this that there could almost be a premium paid for the chips, to make the extra effort and care and investment still profitable,” he said.

Logger Don Bennett said he was somewhat skeptical of the prospects for higher pay in the chips market if loggers had to adapt their harvesting processes. Bennett said he has been told in the past that he could make more money by doing things better.

“I’ve spent more money trying to do it better, and I occasionally get paid more,” he said.

Competition
Dwyer noted that chip wood is the equivalent of pulp wood, and the heating market would therefore compete with paper mills.

Regarding the availability of chips locally, Dwyer said his survey showed “strong opinion that there’s enough wood around, but there was also the sentiment that it’s going to have to compete in the market. But you would need quite a few of these [wood-heated] facilities before it would make a big dent in the wood supply. Five or 10 Goulds around here could be absorbed quite easily.”

While he does not anticipate that wood chips alone would entirely sustain a forest economy, Dwyer said, it could be an important piece of it. His survey also revealed stakeholder concerns about the future. Worries ranged from too much demand for chips, to a hole in the market created if paper mills close down, Dwyer said.

Rackliffe noted that demand from Europe, which uses significant amounts of wood for heating, is growing. And while that demand could eventually mean rising prices for chips, “I don’t think anybody can project energy that far out,” he said. “What I need to look at is how I’m going to keep Gould in business for the next five to eight years.”