New biomass unit helps lower Northern Michigan University’s energy costs

Posted by on October 13, 2013

MARQUETTE, MICH. — Wood chips are helping Northern Michigan University keep energy costs down.

The Upper Peninsula school trucks in four loads of the chips to help produce electricity in a new biomass unit on its Marquette campus,according to WLUC-TV. When the unit at the Ripley Heating Plant begins running fulltime, six to seven truckloads of wood chips will be hauled in.

The biomass unit was completed in June and cost $16.4 million, but it will save about $1.5 million each year. It is expected to produce up to 18 percent of the university’s electricity. The unit has to pass more inspections before its use is ramped up.

“This is all about keeping costs down for students,” said Art Gischia, senior associate vice president for Administration at Northern Michigan. “The more we can do to save energy, the less annual operating costs we can pass on to students.

The wood chips are bought from local suppliers.

“It’s kind of like when you go to the farmers market and buy local produce,” said Gisele Duehring, heating plant manager. “We’re taking it quite a few notches higher.

“If we need to go ahead and expand in the future, then we’d be happy to and have additional electrical generation.”

The wood chips are sorted and loaded into the biomass unit’s firebox where they are burned. Heated water produces steam that powers turbines which produces electricity to help heat and cool the campus.

A use also has been found for the large amounts of ash produced by the process. It becomes a soil enhancer for agriculture. It’s all part of Northern Michigan’s efforts to go green. The school also has invested in more efficient lighting and water use.

Source: http://www.freep.com/article/20131013/NEWS06/310130117

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