Biomass can be defined as any form of plant material. In this context, we are referring to biomass as wood chips and other waste products from wood harvesting that can be burned to produce steam.
Currently, the college burns oil at the central heat and power (CHP) facility to produce steam for heating campus buildings and co-generating electricity. Due to the large heating demands of a Vermont winter, we burn LOTS of oil.
The rough numbers look like this: 2 million gallons of #6 diesel (at the CHP) and 200,000 gallons of #2 diesel (for small heating applications). Roughly 70% of our GHG emissions come from the oil consumed to heat and cool our buildings!
If we can replace some of this petroleum with a renewable fuel like biomass, we can go a long way towards achieving our carbon reduction goals. In fact, current plans call for a biomass plant that will burn 20,000 tons of wood per year, thereby replacing close to 1 million gallons of #6 oil burned at the CHP. This project alone will let us meet the carbon reduction goals agreed upon by the trustees!
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