Benton’s Biomass Boiler Project Fuels Interest

CAROLYN N. MOYER
Northern Pa. Correspondent

BENTON, Pa — The motivation behind Benton Area School District’s plan to install a biomass boiler system to heat two schools is simple: utilize a renewable resource for fuel while energizing the local economy.

The Columbia County school district is weaving together resources from across Pennsylvania with local farmers to make the project feasible.

“This has certainly been a collaborative effort and we have appreciated the support of the department of agriculture, our local legislators and Penn State University for all of their encouragement,” said Gary Powlus, superintendent of the Benton Area Schools.

Pennsylvania Secretary of Agriculture Dennis Wolff made a visit to the rural Columbia County school during his fifth annual harvest tour, focusing on renewable alternative energy sources. The goal is to have the total system fired up by this time next year.

“Congratulations,” said Secretary Wolff, “This is exciting. It’s an interesting concept.”

Natural Resources Conservation Service grazing specialist Kris Ribble brought the proposal to use renewable fuel sources to the school district in a plan that would reduce the overall heating bill and benefit area farmers.

“We brought Kris in and he gave us some ideas and suggestions and we thought this certainly is worth more investigation,” said Powlus

Scott Singer, NRCS biologist, and Ryan Koch, Pocono Northeast RC&D coordinator joined the effort of promoting the idea to the school board and, after some discussion and investigation, the board decided to move forward with the project. They began by applying for a Pennsylvania Energy Harvest Grant which was actually funded as a Pennsylvania Energy Development Authority grant (PEDA), and were awarded $350,000 for the purchase of and installation of a biomass boiler. A second Pennsylvania Energy Harvest grant application to fund the underground piping and electrical service upgrades has been applied for this year. Total project costs are estimated to be $1.3 million. The system will be backed up with oil.

The school is also involved in an extensive energy audit by Pennsylvania Power and Light (PP&L).

“They’ll work with our entire project,” said Beverly Ribble, business manager for the Benton Area School District.

A technical steering committee consisting of Dave Shimmel, energy engineer with the Department of Environmental Protection, members of the Benton Area School board and representatives from the community sat down to make the plans become reality.

The first phase is installing a biomass boiler. Because the school district officials wanted optional energy sources including corn, wood chips, wood pellets and switchgrass pellets, the boiler is being specially designed and built by Advanced Recycling Equipment, of St. Mary’s, Pa. When installed, the boiler would be located in a central service building. Underground piping would allow the heat to move to both the elementary and the junior/senior high school buildings.

Garage doors on each side of the building will allow tractor trailer loads of fuel to be dumped into a 10-foot deep pit. An auger at the bottom of the pit will automatically carry the fuel stock to the burner. The building will be designed so that anyone from the community can watch the system in action.

“I feel one of the reasons we got this grant was the fact that we have an educational component to this. In our design, our plan is to put windows and a separate door for students and people from the community to come in and see this process in action,” said Powlus.

“We’re looking at a flexible fuel system,” said Powlus. “I’m not aware of one (boiler) anywhere else that can utilize several different kinds of fuel stocks.”

This is where the farmer comes into the equation. Benton Area School District is located within an area where more than 50 percent of the population is involved in agriculture. With total enrollment of about 500 students in grades kindergarten through 12, it is a relatively small school. It also has a very active FFA program, drawing more than 100 active members in grades 9 through 12. Many of those active FFA members are from the non-farming population.

“Being in a rural area with over 50 percent of the population in agriculture, our plans are to be able to burn corn, switchgrass pellets, wood chips or wood pellets, thus enabling our district to go to our local farmers and have them become a part of this project,” said Powlus. “We have two feed mills within two miles of our district where local farmers bring their corn, which would then be able to supply our corn.”

Ernst Conservation Seeds, LLC, has jumped on board, promising the district two years’ worth of heat utilizing switchgrass pellets, a savings to the district of $110,000.

Ribble, Singer and Koch are also working together to bring the farmer into the equation by helping them establish new fields of switchgrass.

“Around 300 acres of new grassland have been established specifically for this purpose which is probably in excess of 150 acres of what it will take to heat the school every year,” said Scott Singer, USDA Wildlife biologist.

It takes three years to establish a switchgrass crop. Harvest for grass pellets should be done in the spring so the grass can be as dry as possible. Also, the longer the grass stays in the field, the more nutrients return to the soil, lowering the ash content of the standing blades.

“Switchgrass is a warm season grass,” said Singer. “You can harvest it in the spring before the year’s growth begins.”

Besides offering an additional income source for farmers, the switchgrass plots also provide excellent wildlife habitat.

The market for the crop and the establishment of the crop are now growing at the same pace.

“If the economics are there,” said Secretary Wolff, “It won’t take long for the farmers to get on board. That’s just the way it works. Farmers are good businessmen. They’ll take a look at it and if the economics are there, they’ll do it. Switchgrass is so attractive because it can be grown on lower quality soils and even highly erodible ground.”

The idea is already growing.

“Specifically, this year, we did biomass production plantings that were divided up between 16 different farmers,” said Singer. “Those people are stepping up to the plate and saying look, here’s ground that I’m just spinning my wheels on, let’s do something different here and this sounds like it’s going to work. Ultimately, though, it is always going to come down to net profit per acre. That’s what this whole thing is going to be geared toward is trying to maximize this for our farmers.”

Another benefit of the biomass boiler is the potential to reduce air pollution by 88 percent. The school district also hopes to lower fuel expenses. Last year’s fuel bill for the two schools was about $126,000.

“Just think about how much of that $126,000 ended up in the Persian Gulf and then think about keeping those dollars right here in Columbia County. Just think of that economic input,” said Wolff.

A mobile pelletizer, which was unveiled at Ag Progress Days, is the third component of the system. This machine, when purchased, will be housed at the Pocono Northeast RC&D council and will allow farmers to pelletize the switchgrass onsite.

The idea of forming a farmer-owned cooperative to purchase equipment like a mobile pelletizer is also in the works.

“Maybe that cooperative can also help with marketing that product,” said Ribble.

When the system is fired up next fall, all eyes will be on Benton, a small, rural district, with the potential to make history.

“This is something that the community can take a great deal of pride in. Historically on the plains, the schools were heated with grass. When this boiler fires up, we have the potential to be the first school in the country to heat with native grass pellets,” said Singer.

While in the region, Secretary Wolff made a stop at Boyd Station, LLC, of Danville. The facility was recently upgraded to include a soybean processor which will crush soybeans to make oil for biofuels.