Colleges fire up biomass, geothermal plants

Campus biomass and geothermal energy integrate CHP systems using woodchips, steam turbines, and geothermal wells to heat buildings, cut fuel oil use, generate on-site electricity, and advance carbon neutrality across US colleges.

Green Mountain College formally opened a new $5.8 million combined heat and power CHP biomass plant recently.

The plant will use locally sourced woodchips to provide 85 of the school's heat and generate 20 of its electricity. Fuel oil will be used mainly as a backup to heat campus buildings.

The Vermont college estimates it will burn about 4,000-5,000 tons of locally harvested woodchips each year as the primary fuel, a model gaining traction on U.S. campuses today across the country — the $5.8 million plant is expected to pay for itself over eighteen years through savings on fuel costs.

In the new plant, woodchips are fed into a boiler and heated at a very high temperature with low oxygen, until the fuel smolders and emits gas. Oxygen is added and the gas ignites. Steam produced from the heat is circulated through existing pipes for heat and hot water. The steam also activates a turbine which will produce 400,000 kWh of electricity.

College president Paul Fonteyn said that by next year Green Mountain College would become the first college in the country to reach carbon neutrality after reducing carbon emissions by more than 50.

Oregon Institute of Technology's Klamath Falls campus dedicated its new geothermal electric project recently.

The power plant is the first geothermal combined heat and power plant in Oregon, and the only geothermal electric plant currently operating in the state. It has a maximum capacity output of 280 kilowatts gross power utilizing existing wells on the campus, showing how systems like the ElectraTherm Green Machine can convert low-temperature heat.

A second larger power plant is planned at the university. The 1.2 megawatt project will utilize a 5,300-foot deep well drilled in 2009. The project is expected to be complete in 2012.

OIT — and the Klamath Falls area of Oregon — has a long history of geothermal utilization. OIT has used geothermal energy since the mid-1960s for heating buildings and sidewalks.

OIT is home to the Geo-Heat Center, a national clearinghouse for geothermal energy established in 1975.

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