After 10 months of research, the first phase of a comprehensive investigation into the feasibility of heating and powering Cook County with biomass is complete. The biggest news might be that Cook County has way more biomass available than it needs to keep its homes, businesses and governmental buildings warm, and a one-size-fits-all solution doesn’t exist.
The county-funded study, with oversight by the Cook County Local Energy Project (CCLEP), brought together a team of researchers from Dovetail Partners, the University of Minnesota, and LHB Inc., representing nonprofit, governmental, and business, respectively.
Some of the key players brought the research findings to the county board and the public in two separate meetings on September 20, 2011. The report addressed the availability of biomass in Cook County, the types of systems that could fit local needs, and the financial costs and paybacks.
Dr. Dennis Becker of the University of Minnesota Department of Forest Resources described the four types of biomass that could reasonably be used for energy production in Cook County: cordwood (logs), clean chips, pellets, and hog fuel (forest refuse like the Firewise cuttings being piled and burned around the county). Pellets are the most expensive to produce, and hog fuel is the cheapest.
Three potential system sizes were investigated: individual homes, lodges with numerous outbuildings, and large public or commercial buildings either standing alone or linked together by hot water infrastructure.
All of the options considered would provide cheaper heat and involve lower maintenance costs than existing fossil fuel heating systems. New capital investment would be necessary to convert to biomass, but replacement of old fossil fuel boilers will be necessary at some point anyway.
Availability and sustainability
The current harvest of forest products in Cook County is 75 percent below what the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources has determined would be sustainable for the health and regeneration of the forest. Cook County has a lot of old aspen and birch that are dying from old age. If local biomass were used for heat throughout the county, more would still be left in the forest than would be taken out each year.
Explorer and environmental advocate Lonnie Dupre of Grand Marais expressed concern over the possibility of taking too much out of the forest, saying he had seen forests in Scandinavia that appeared to be harvested too heavily. “I hiked through their forests and there’s nothing left on the ground,” he said. “There’s no wildlife and nothing left to return nutrients to the soil.”
Dr. Becker acknowledged that practices in Finland and other Scandinavian countries represent an intensive approach to harvesting and one that is not recommended by State of Minnesota harvesting guidelines, which call for leaving at least 33 percent of logging debris behind.
“In the Cook County study, we’ve gone beyond that,” said Becker, “and assumed 50 percent remains.”
Cook County’s Firewise program is producing 4,200 dry tons a year of what could be used as hog fuel. A district heating system for downtown Grand Marais businesses would require 1,900 dry tons a year.
Emissions for all systems studied would be below federally established thresholds. Four percent of hog fuel and ½ percent of pellets end up as ash, which can be used as fertilizer
While mature standing trees store a great deal of carbon, young trees replacing harvested trees sequester more carbon.
The economics
According to the study, money spent on fossil fuels in this area is largely re-spent outside the region. In communities that produce bio-energy fuels, 26 to 86 cents is re-spent locally for every dollar spent purchasing that fuel. The City of Ely, which is bigger than Grand Marais, expects that $2,000,000 a year will be kept in the community as a result of implementing a biomass district heating system.
Dr. Becker met with local loggers during the course of the study. He said they are excited about the possibility of using biomass for energy in Cook County as long as the projects are big enough to bring a payback for their investment in new equipment.
CCLEP Chair George Wilkes asked commissioners how much of the 1 percent sales and use tax is available for biomass district heat infrastructure, one of the projects named in the legislation authorizing the tax. Commissioner Jim Johnson said about $1 million is still available.
Money paid for harvesting trees helps subsidize replanting and helps keep the forest healthy, said Chuck Hartley of LHB, one of the consultants on the study. Dr. Becker added that forest planning requires critical decisions regarding which trees to take and which to leave.
Some properties, such as Bearskin Lodge, which was a part of this study, would still heat more cheaply with off-peak or dual fuel electric heat than with biomass. Electric heat does in many cases use fossil fuel as an energy source, however.
The system expected to have the smallest payback period (five years) and the highest return on investment (514 percent) is a residential pellet stove. The least economically advantageous systems would be heating a small lodge and outbuildings with either cordwood, chips, or pellets and heating some of the larger systems with pellets.
Other facts and findings
. About 25 percent of the public buildings in the State of Vermont heat with biomass. . The most feasible use of biomass in
Cook County would be for creating heat.
Electrical generation would be primarily a useful byproduct of larger systems best suited for a district-wide area such as the public buildings along Fifth Street in Grand Marais or the downtown businesses. An electric-generating system would be more expensive to build. . Hog fuel is best suited for larger systems. . A pellet plant would only be financially feasible if production were on a scale that was larger than what Cook County would need. Some Cook County homes and one community center (Birch Grove) are already heating with pellets imported from outside the county. . A system that uses large amounts of hot water, such as the hospital, could hook into a biomass hot water system and supplement its hot water needs with water heaters as needed. . Methods of financing biomass infrastructure are myriad.
Phase II of the study
The next phase of the study will be funded by a state grant recommended by the Legislative-Citizen Commission on Minnesota Resources. It will include the City of Ely, which is already pursuing a biomass energy project. Funding for Phase II will come out of the Minnesota Environment and Natural Resources Trust Fund, established to assist in the protection, conservation, preservation, and enhancement of the state’s air, water, land, fish, wildlife, and other natural resources.
The study will examine environmental, economic, and social implications of biomass energy and include community discussions about the possibilities and what the citizens of Cook County would like to see happen. It will also involve educating other communities, land managers, policymakers, and investors on the findings.
Phase II should be completed about a year from now.
Dr. Becker on skepticism
The research team was very careful and conservative in making projections, Dr. Becker said. If they projected too optimistically, Cook County might invest in infrastructure that could turn out to be financially unfeasible. If they projected too cautiously, Cook County might forego opportunities that could turn out to be preferable to the status quo.
“We have no financial stake in this,” Dr. Becker said. He explained that he’s from a small town in Kansas. “I’d be disappointed if there wasn’t skepticism.”
More information on
this study can be found on:
CCLEP’s website,
www.cookcountylep.org;
Cook County’s website,
www.co.cook.mn.us; and
Dovetail’s website,
www.dovetailinc.org.
The Cook County News-Herald thanks CCLEP for the information it provided for this article.
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