Announcements
|
| Craftsbury Academy's Students of Biomass Energy Come to BERC |
 |
 |
|
The group is unique in that the students are part of an innovative new curriculum at the school that offers classroom education and hands-on learning in sustainable forestry, science, and biomass technology. A combination wood pellet/woodchip heating system (recently installed at the school) and the school-owned 100-acre parcel of forestland provide working illustrations of various aspects of forest biomass energy. Well managed since its acquisition in the early 1960s, the woodland parcel is now managed by the students themselves. This year, after completing a class in sustainable forestry and safety, the supervised students donned protective gear and entered the woods with chainsaws. The harvested higher-grade timber will be milled for lumber and the low-grade wood will be turned into pellets and sent back to the school to heat it next winter.
A question and answer period followed, with other BERC staff members on hand to help answer a range of questions, including biomass gasification, stack emissions, and best combustion practices. The group then headed to the Vermont Wood Pellet manufacturing facility in Clarendon to observe the process of transforming harvested low-grade wood into pellets. The idea for the field trip began with Craftsbury Academy’s Science Teacher Rob Libby, Forestry Instructor Walter Gutzmann, and SunWood Biomass System’s David Frank. SunWood Biomass is the supplier of the school’s wood boiler. Image CaptionsTop right: BERC Assistant Program Manager Sarah Galbraith presents an overview of biomass energy to students and teachers from Craftsbury Academy. Bottom left: Two students inspect a bag of sample woodchips. Download the Powerpoint Presentation in PDF Interested in learning about community-scale biomass energy for your class or group? Contact BERC at This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it . |
On June 8, 2011, a group of high school students and teachers from Craftsbury Academy, a 5th-12th grade public school in Craftsbury, Vermont, participated in a ‘classroom’ session at the Biomass Energy Resource Center (BERC) as part of a day of experiential exploration of woody biomass energy—from sustainable forest harvesting to wood pellet production. 
On the first stop of the day-long field trip, Assistant Program Manager Sarah Galbraith of BERC’s wood fuel supply team welcomed the students and led the group through a presentation on community-scale biomass energy and its value to Vermont’s working landscape. Galbraith underscored key factors in successfully fueling and operating a wood-fired system and presented aggregated figures on fuel-cost savings and the millions of gallons of oil offset by the 44 public schools heating with biomass in Vermont. 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.
BERC Conference Activity
March 2012
Northeast Biomass Heating Expo 2012March 21-23, 2012, City Center, Saratoga Springs, New York
BERC Program Director Adam Sherman is moderating a session on biomass district heating, entitled "District Heating: Can it Work Here?"
Vermont State Science and Mathematics Fair (VSSMF)
March 31, 2012, Norwich University
BERC is a co-sponsor of this annual event that encourages more Vermont students to consider careers in science, technology, engineering, and math.
April 2012
International Biomass Conference & ExpoApril 16-19, 2012, Denver, Colorado
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 or email: service@bbiinternational.com.
Heating the Midwest Conference & Expo
April 25-27, 2012, Ramada Convention Center, Eau Claire, Wisconsin
BERC is a sponsoring partner of this inaugural event, which will bring together biomass thermal renewable energy industry leaders to discuss and formulate strategies for expanding the use of biomass in the Midwest. BERC Midwest Office Director Pamela Porter serves on the steering committee of the Heating the Midwest group. For more information or to register, click here.
More...
