June 28, 2010 Educational Plant Maintenance Association of Maine 42 nd Annual Conference Colby College District-wide heating with Bio-mass Mike McCormick, CPE President and CEO New England Energy Solutions

June 28, 2010 Biography New England Energy Solutions was created to address escalating energy costs Invested heavily in wood to energy Currently involved in more than 20 major wood energy projects Prime consultant & lead on a 630 connected load community heat project Prime consultant on 2 industrial park CHP Been to Europe to see how it works Speak and present to many groups and organizations regarding wood energy

June 28, 2010 What is district heating? District heating, also known as central or community heating, is simply the connection of more than one building to a common heating plant or source of heat. Generally, a heating medium is piped via underground pipe distribution system, then connected to the end user facility. Could be steam, hot water, or oil.

June 28, 2010 How long has it been around? District heating is not new, in fact the hot water baths and greenhouses of the ancient Roman Empire were heated in this manner. One system in France has been in continuous operation since the 14th century. The Naval Academy in Annapolis began steam district heating service in 1853.

June 28, 2010 How long has it been around? New York City has used steam district heating since 1882 and is the largest in the world. Dartmouth College in NH first used wood in St. Paul, MN went online in 2005, 25MW cogen & cooling, serves 20,000 customers in a downtown setting.

June 28, MW plant serving 20,000 customers located in the middle of the City

June 28, 2010 Advantages of district heat 1.Huge energy savings for fuel 2.Reduced operational costs, 1 plant 3.Less volatility of fossil fuel fluctuations 4.Reduces emissions 5.Keeps 85% of fuel revenues local

June 28, 2010 What equipment is needed?

June 28, 2010

Equipment 1.Bio mass fired heat generation device

June 28, 2010 Equipment

June 28, 2010 Equipment Distribution network

June 28, 2010 Equipment Typical building connection

June 28, 2010 Equipment Heat transfer devices Flat plate exchanger Energy transfer station

June 28, 2010 Equipment Metering All meters connected to real-time metering system with web interface. Additional meters can also be connected (water, electric, etc)

June 28, 2010 Other equipment that can be included Absorption chillers Cooling and dehumidification Electrical generation, thermal oil or turbine

June 28, 2010 Other equipment that can be included to bolster capacity

June 28, 2010 Why? Peak oil was reached in 2010, out by 2047

June 28, 2010 Why?

June 28, 2010 Why?

June 28, 2010 Fuel Dollar Savings

June 28, 2010 What type of design? Must decide if thermal only or CHP? Will there be cooling load? Will it operate year round or heating season only? Based on the above, thermal lead or electric lead? Wood only or dual fuel? What % will wood produce?

June 28, 2010 Moving forward Establish a budget to move concept forward Select a team with district heat experience Full engineering and feasibility studies is what is needed but pricey Perhaps start with a “pre-feasibility” study

June 28, 2010 Getting started Scope of Work for a “pre-feasibility” study of a community heating project and possible electrical generation

June 28, 2010 Scope of Work 1.Determine scope and scale of project 2.Consider inclusion of major institutions and business 3.Determine fuel type(s) 4.Identify long term, locally sourced, environmentally sustainable fuel source 5.Assessment of appropriate systems 6.Maximizing energy efficiency & environmental sustainability 7.Cost comparison between biomass & existing fossil fuel systems 8.Consider impact on local HVAC & fuel providers 9.Boiler siting & fuel storage & handling 10.Identify complementary technologies & fuel, such as solar, geothermal, methane, wind, or other

June 28, 2010 Scope of Work continued 11.Communicate w/public re: costs & benefits of a local distributed energy system 12.Return on investment time frame w/ alternative energy comparisons 13.Opportunities for new businesses: greenhouse, cold storage, pellet mfg, other 14.Opportunities for summer cooling 15.Identify financing opportunities 16.Estimated costs associated w/ each system

June 28, 2010 Is it feasible? Deliver reports for group discussion Present to community or decision makers Final design Funding Construction Start saving $$$$$$$ Energy independence

June 28, 2010 Wood fuels There are differing grades of fuel available depending on your needs and desired operational outcomes. Premium quality chips Premium quality chips (our best) Mid-grade quality chips Mid-grade quality chips (our 2nd best) Low-grade quality chips Low-grade quality chips (our 3rd best) Bio-mass chips Bio-mass chips (our 4th best) All of the above grades will work in most high quality boilers, especially gasifiers. The difference will be the heat output and amount of tending to the boiler by the boiler operator; the lower grades may require more tube cleaning and ash disposal. Even with the slight additional costs of human intervention, the lower grades are worth considering as significant heat savings will more than offset the additional man hours.

June 28, 2010 Wood fuels – Premium chips There are differing grades of fuel available depending on your needs and desired operational outcomes. Premium quality chips (our best) Our premium quality product is hardwood only chips with medium moisture content (35-45%). The chip is consistently sized at 2 ½ x 2 ½ x 5/8 or smaller via a screening process. These chips are free of dirt and irregular chip shapes. Generally, most of this fuel is from the “bole” portion of the tree which, among other benefits, keeps the bark to wood fiber ratio low. Lower bark content means your boilers will run cleaner, more efficiently, and less polluting. Bark content is about 8-10 % as a ratio of white wood to bark. This is a pulp quality product and competes with prices and availability of the pulp and paper market (hard to get multi-year prices). This product meets your spec except for the 3% bark requirement you seek. In order to get to 3% the tree must be debarked, which results in additional cost.

June 28, 2010 Wood fuels – Mid-grade chips There are differing grades of fuel available depending on your needs and desired operational outcomes. Mid-grade quality chips (our second best) Our mid-grade offering is hardwood only chips with medium to high moisture content (35-55%). The chip is consistently sized at 2 ½ x 2 ½ x 5/8 or smaller via a screening process. These chips are free of dirt and irregular chip shapes. Generally, most of this fuel is from the “bole” portion of the tree and larger limbs with a higher bark ratio of 10-17% as a ratio of bark to wood fiber ratio. This is near pulp quality product and sometimes competes with prices and availability of the pulp and paper market (somewhat harder to get multi-year prices but not as hard as premium).

June 28, 2010 Wood fuels – Low-grade chips There are differing grades of fuel available depending on your needs and desired operational outcomes. Low-grade quality chips (our 3rd best) Our low-grade offering is mostly hardwood chips but could have some other species mixed in. They have upper medium to high moisture content (45-55%). The chip is a full mix of sizes from 5/8 x 5/8 x 5/8 to 2 ½ x 2 ½ x 5/8 via a screening process. The mix will be somewhat equal of each size. These chips are free of dirt and irregular chip shapes. This is a whole tree chip including tops but not leaves or needles with a higher bark ratio of 17-25% as a ratio of bark to wood fiber ratio. This is not a pulp quality product and does not compete with prices and availability of the pulp and paper market (possible to get multi-year prices).

June 28, 2010 Wood fuels – Bio-mass chips There are differing grades of fuel available depending on your needs and desired operational outcomes. Bio-mass chips (our 4th best) Our bio-mass grade offering is mostly hardwood chips but with more other species than our low grade mixed in. They are high moisture content (up to 55%). The chip is a full mix of sizes from 5/8 x 5/8 x 5/8 to 2 ½ x 2 ½ x 5/8 via a screening process. The mix will be somewhat equal of each size. These chips are free of dirt and irregular chip shapes. This is a whole tree chip including tops, leaves and needles with a high bark ratio of 25% or greater. This is not a pulp quality product and does not compete with prices and availability of the pulp and paper market (possible to get multi-year prices).

June 28, 2010 Thank you…. Burn Maine wood NOT Foreign oil and create Maine jobs too!