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Announcements

BERC case study on the biomass heating system at National Life Group's headquarters in Montpelier, Vermont is featured in Renewable Energy World. Click here for link to article.
The 2012 Vermont Woodchip and Pellet Heating Conference Summary.
BERC at 10 Years and 2011 Annual Report
BERC supports newly formed group—Heating the Midwest—as a steering committee member for policy through the participation of BERC Midwest Office Director Pamela Porter. Read press release announcing the group’s formation and mission objectives.
ShadeFund, a joint project of the Conservation Fund and the US Endowment for Forestry and Communities, provides small loans to green businesses and entrepreneurs putting natural resources to work responsibly.
Craftsbury Academy's Students of Biomass Energy Come to BERC. Read a summary of the visit, the first stop of a field trip culminating in a demonstration of pellet making at Vermont Wood Pellet.
Biomass 101: Solutions for High Heating Costs. View summary of recent workshop, including presentations.
New BERC Video: Wood Fuel Supply Chain. This 10-minute program illustrates the critical links involved in sourcing sustainably supplied wood fuel for community biomass energy use.
Woodchip Heating Fuel Specifications in the Northeastern United States.
Biomass Energy in Colleges and Universities: How BERC Can Help (click here).
"Biomass Community Roadmap" now available online.
Emission Controls for Small Wood-Fired Boilers report prepared by RSG, Inc. and BERC.
Manomet Study of Woody Biomass in Massachusetts.

BERC Mission Statement

The Biomass Energy Resource Center (BERC) is an independent, national nonprofit organization located in Montpelier, Vermont with a Midwest office in Madison, Wisconsin, that assists communities, colleges and universities, state and local governments, businesses, utilities, schools, and others in making the most of their local biomass energy resources.

BERC’s mission is to achieve a healthier environment, strengthen local economies, and increase energy security across the United States through the development of sustainable biomass energy systems at the community scale. BERC’s particular focus is on the use of woody biomass and other pelletizable biomass fuels.

FAQs

Q: What is biomass?
A: Biomass is any biological material that can be used as fuel. Biomass fuel is burned or converted in systems that produce heat, electricity, or both heat and power. Woodchips, wood pellets, and other low-grade wood wastes are the major type of biomass fuel. Other common biomass fuel sources are agricultural crop residues and farm animal wastes.

Q: What is BERC? How can you help us with our project?
A: The Biomass Energy Resource Center is a nonprofit organization that assists communities, colleges and universities, state and local governments, businesses, utilities, schools, and others in making the most of their local energy resources. We offer services in project pre-feasibility assessment as well as provide a variety of technical and policy resources. Project work includes biomass energy prefeasibility studies, biomass energy RFP assistance and evaluation, and technology assessment.

Q: What kinds of facilities use biomass?
A: Facilities suitable for biomass systems include schools, colleges, universities, hospitals, public buildings, hotels and motels, commercial buildings, greenhouses, large-scale agricultural operations, manufacturing plants, power plants, and community district energy systems (the latter being the use of a central heating plant to provide heat to multiple buildings using buried pipes to distribute the energy). BERC’s expertise is in ‘community-scale’ biomass systems in the 1-to-10 million Btu per hour (output) range.

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BERC Conference Activity

January 2012

Pacific West Biomass Conference & Trade Show
January 16-18, 2012, San Francisco, California

BERC is a supporting organization of this event being held by Biomass Power & Thermal and Biorefining Magazine. For more details and registration and abstract submission deadlines, visit: www.biomassconference.com/pacificwest or email: service@bbiinternational.com.

February 2012

2012 Better Buildings by Design
February 8, 2012, Sheraton Conference Center, Burlington, Vermont

BERC Fuel Supply Program Director Adam Sherman will present as part of a panel entitled, Thermal Biomass: from Infrastructure to Economics.

Emission Control and Clean Air
February 9th, 2012, CRIQ, 333 Franquet, Québec, Qc, Canada, G1P 4C7

BERC Program Director Adam Sherman will make a presentation entitled, “Small and Medium Wood Energy Projects in Vermont: Overview, Success Factors, and Emissions.” This conference is being organized by APCAS (Québec section of A&WMA) in cooperation with Centre de recherche industrielle du Québec (CRIQ).

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