Project Portfolio

The Biomass Energy Resource Center (BERC) plays an important role in the development and implementation of a wide variety of biomass energy projects.

Mount Anthony Union Middle School

BERC was the project manager for installing a wood heating plant in this new school construction project in Bennington, Vermont. BERC worked with the architect and engineer to integrate the wood system into the construction project. The wood system became functional in the 2004-2005 school year.

Fox Hill Bruderhof

BERC helped the Fox Hill Bruderhof Community, in the Hudson River Valley of New York, to do the initial exploration of options for heating the campus of buildings using wood-chip fuel. The biomass district energy system was constructed and began operation in the winter of 2003-2004.

Gasification Demonstration Project

BERC is the lead developer of a 300 kW wood-gasifier demonstration project. Funding for the project comes from the Massachusetts Technology Collaborative, the U.S. Department of Energy, and the Energy and Environmental Research Center (EERC). BERC carried out an extensive global search of near-commercial wood gasifiers. The project tested an existing Ankur gasifier at EERC in North Dakota, and identified the further developmental needs for commercialization of the technology for the US market. Installation of a new gasifier is planned and will serve as a demonstration of the technology.

Woodchip Heating Systems Guide Book

BERC recently revised Woodchip Heating Systems: A Guide for Institutional and Commercial Biomass Installations (1.6MB PDF), under contract to the U.S. Forest Service. This guide book was originally written by BERC Executive Director Tim Maker in 1992 for the Northeast Regional Biomass Program. The revised book is currently available electronically in CD format.

Darby School Wood Heating

BERC was the project manager for installing the first school wood heating system in the western states, located in Darby, Montana. Working for the U.S. Forest Service and the Bitter Root RC&D Area, the BERC team (including CTA Architects and Engineers, of Billings, Montana) designed the new boiler house, helped the school select a wood system vendor and designed both new buried steam piping and upgrades to old heating equipment. The new wood-fired central system serves three buildings on the Darby Schools campus: the elementary, junior high, and high school. The wood system went into operation in the winter of 2003-2004. Darby is the first project of the Forest Service's "Fuels for Schools" initiative.