Bio-Mass Project Assistance in NY

Technical Assistance RFP and Application

Technical Assistance for Customer-Sited Rural Biomass Energy Projects in New York State will assist private sector biomass projects in the state that have already moved past the "concept" phase, but have not been developed to the point that they can attract investment capital and finance. Selected projects will receive engineering and economic feasibility technical assistance focusing on engineering and economic issues in project design

This program is a collaborative effort of the New York Farm Viability Institute, the New York Biomass Energy Alliance, and SUNY/Cobleskill with funding provided by a U.S.D.A. Rural Development Rural Business Enterprise Grant program.

The complete RFP is available below, as well as the application for Technical Assistance.

RFP - Technical Assistance for CSRBEP in NYS

Click here to download application

All Installations are operational

We are glad to report that all of our installations are operational.
The outside hydronic furnace at the Jewett Town Garage went on line October 19 2010.
This follows the successful fire up at Brookside Hardware that coincided with our Fall open house on Oct 9 2010. The open house included in addition to the Brookside site in Margretville, The Catskill Center in Arkville and The Andes Town Garage in Andes.

The implementation of this project was much more challenging and drawn out than anyone had expected. The biggest challenge was arranging for installation especially the outside furnaces which required various levels of plumbing complexity. The variety of locations required systems specifically tailored to the type of building and to supplement the existing heating systems that were in place. Some older buildings had hydronic gas or oil furnaces using water to air convectors. The new outside furnaces were plumbed into the existing systems. Two sites are hot air systems that required stand alone hot water to air convectors hung from the ceilings. The installation in Andes was in a newly constructed building which utilizes in floor radiant heat. At this site the outside pellet Furnace is fully integrated to supplement the new heating system.

The inside pellet stoves were much easier to install, only requiring a four inch exhaust pipe to the outside.

More on the demonstration sites can be found on the Delaware CCE web site.Click on the link below to get to the site then hover on the Agriculture and Natural Resources and slide down to the Catskill Grass Energy Project tab and you will find information on the project.

Click here

Biomass technology would bring jobs to area

Letter published in Sunday Binghamton Press

By Rance Brode • October 17, 2010, 12:00 am

Hydraulic fracturing is an unacceptable risk to our environment and way of life. We are fortunate to live in an area basically free from natural disaster threats such as hurricanes, tornadoes, earthquakes and flooding. Why create our own manmade threat?

New York state and our local communities should instead focus their efforts on establishing upstate New York as the leader in biomass technologies to create our own renewable energy source. This would greatly promote the agriculture and lumber industries in producing the wide variety of vegetation that can be converted to various forms of energy and fuels.

We should promote and establish the manufacturing of biomass equipment in upstate New York, ranging from large industrial to small home use. Our high-tech companies and universities should focus on the development of this quickly evolving technology. (Lockheed Martin in Owego already is using this technology themselves and will soon be providing it to a customer.)

My vision is that all jobs related to this renewable energy source, including growing the necessary crops, manufacturing, building, operating and sustaining the necessary equipment and facilities, researching and evolving the technology, would remain in upstate New York.

The only thing that will stop our migration of shopping to the far less taxed state of Pennsylvania is when they have polluted their land and water beyond repair. I clearly hope this does not happen, but I do not believe we should assume the risk they have when there is a far more safe, prosperous and renewable way to proceed.

Grass Energy in the Northeast

New York Biomass Energy Alliance Has recently launched a new Blog to cover news and innovation in grass energy in the northeast. Grass bio mass has started to gain traction in the Northeast of late.

Click on the link to explore the new blog

Grass Energy

Grass BioEnergy Project open house

Cornell Cooperative Extension of Delaware County will hold a Catskill Grass BioEnergy Project open house on Saturday, October 9^th in various locations in the area. The open house is designed to provide consumers more information on the use of grass pellets for residential and small business heating, and to view commercially available stove/furnaces that work well with grass pellets in operation. From 10 am to 12 pm an indoor pellet stove will be demonstrated at the Catskill Center (state rt. 28. Arkville), and an outdoor pellet furnace at the Brookside Hardware (State Rt. 28 Margaretville). Staff will be available at both sites to answer questions. From 1pm to 3 pm two different indoor and outdoor units will be demonstrated at the Town of Andes Highway Garage (Delaware County Rt. 1). The Catskill Grass BioEnergy Project is a collaborative effort between the Catskill Watershed Corporation, Cornell University and Cornell Cooperative Extension of Delaware County.

Study: Farmers willing to try growing crops to use as biomass fuels

By Alaina Potrikus / The Post-Standard

March 10, 2010, 8:12PM

Syracuse, NY -- Available land and amenable farmers make Central New York a prime location for biomass fuel production, says a study released Wednesday.

But the renewable energy source would likely need the help of government subsidies to compete with fossil fuels in the short run, research by Cato Analytics suggests. And although the land is available and farmers are willing, the market is not ready for the crop, according to the study, funded in part by the New York Farm Viability Institute.

Researchers contacted landowners who owned more than 10 acres of property within a 25-mile radius of Morrisville last fall to determine the level of interest in growing energy crops to diversify their farming operations and overall land usage.

Previous studies have extolled local soils as prime growing conditions for energy crops such as switchgrass and willow. But researchers wanted to get a sense of how much land was in play by talking to farmers about what returns they would need to achieve to consider biomass fuel production.

The results indicated that one-third of the agricultural land in the study area — or more than 100,000 acres — is currently idle. “There is a lot of land out there that could be producing biomass without crippling the dairy industry or a farmer’s field crops,” said Dan Conable of Cato Analytics.

Researchers asked participants to figure how much money they would have to invest to farm the idle land and how long it would take to turn a profit. “We didn’t think it would be helpful to this process to lowball the numbers,” Conable said. “We wanted to be realistic.”

Two years ago, it cost less to produce biomass energy than more conventional forms. But as prices of other fuels fell, that changed. Several factors could make biomass energy more attractive again.

A new federal program aims to encourage the biomass industry by covering 75 percent of the establishment costs and providing subsidies for collection, harvesting, storage and transportation.

Conable said the development of new breeds of grasses that deliver higher energy yields could also change the market value. New federal policies designed to decrease the country’s reliance on fossil fuels and address global warming could also make it more expensive to use fossil fuels and push the market toward renewable resources.

The just-released research is expected to help developers considering local projects — including colleges, hospitals and industrial plants. Such projects would require upfront investment in infrastructure expected to pay for itself in energy cost savings.

Movement toward biomass use is already picking up some momentum. Last month, officials at the Griffiss Business and Technology Park in Rome announced plans to build a $35 million power plant to be fueled by biomass that’s expected to save $1.5 million a year in utility costs. Colgate University already derives the majority of its energy from burning wood chips. And Morrisville State College is studying whether to use a biomass-based system.

Opportunity to Grow Biomass Explored

Central New York Opportunity to Grow Biomass Explored at Meetings

By Debra J. Groom
The Post-Standard

March 7, 2010

Morrisville, NY -- A series of meetings are scheduled to discuss the possibility of growing biomass energy crops in Central New York. A recent study shows that about 120,000 acres may be available to produce biomass energy crops in Central New York. This and other findings from a recently-completed farmer and landowner survey will be the focus of several upcoming local meetings.

Recent grants from the NY Farm Viability Institute, housed in Syracuse, have supported the development of information about how to grow biofeedstock, including shrub willow, switchgrass, castor oil, pennycress and more.

Click here to read the whole story and meeting dates and places

Woodmaster BioMax

TUESDAY, JANUARY 1, 2010
January 26, 2010 - Commercial operations can now more affordably convert to biomass heat with a WoodMaster BioMax
boiler system. The 12 BioMax boiler models use wood chips and/or wood pellets to heat water, which in turn heats most
heating systems for any size and scope of buildings and grounds.
"BioMax systems help business owners, government firm and other organization leaders control their heat budget with
domestic fuel so they're not at the mercy of fluctuating gas and oil prices," says Chuck Gagner, President of Northwest
Manufacturing, Red Lake Falls, Minn., which develops and markets WoodMaster furnaces and other products.
"Wood pellets and wood chips are carbon neutral sources, so BioMax systems help businesses stay ahead of tightening
environmental regulations," he continues. "These sources are more affordable than other conventional commercial boiler
systems' fuels, and each BioMax creates more continuous, usable heat for great efficiency at less cost."
The full line of BioMax boilers ranges from 130 - 2,000 kW (up to 6.8 million Btu), plus a customizable control system and
user friendly display board. For companies without space for a biomass boiler, WoodMaster has prefabricated boiler rooms.
The company also offers expert, certified installation from its North American dealer network. The BioMax boiler systems are
proven boilers that have been brought to the United States from a partnership of Northwest Manufacturing and ABioNova in
Sweden.
BioMax boiler systems are currently on display at AHR Expo Booth #5069.
Northwest Manufacturing is a privately-owned company based in Red Lake Falls, Minnesota. The company develops,
manufacturers and markets WoodMaster BioMax boilers, wood, wood chip, corn/pellet and Flex Fuel furnaces, plus
replacement parts for most outdoor furnace brands. It also distributes HeatLink systems, including in-floor heat, and Pellet
Grills. For more information about the company and its products, visit http://www.woodmaster.com/.

Andes

Andes M250 fitted with fire suppression kit.
Plumbing contractor will fire furnace again wed 2/10/2010 balance the whole heating system and sign off on the job.
Highway crew will let us know when they have moved in to the new building so they can be trained in the operation of the furnace.

Jewett

Plumbers will be done 2/3/10 or 2/4/10 at the latest. Electrician will be called by Jewett Highway super.

Maintenance on the Harman P68 in Ashokan

The Ashokan Center staff today reported that they needed to perform a clean out of the igniter area under the burn ramp of the Harman P68 to get the stove to fire properly. This sort of maintenance is not unheard of, but may be needed more frequently with grass pellets, due to higher ash content and less fly ash.

The Ashokan Center has had good luck with the Harman P68 thus far having used it for about 1 1/2 months on a low setting.

As soon as we know more about what they did to clean it, we'll pass it on.

Up and Running

This is the first post.
Andes is ready to be fired this week.