"NH turns to it's trees for heat"

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Harman Lover 007

Minister of Fire
Hearth Supporter
Thanks for sharing these articles. Great reads. I've been watching the Berlin plant switch from pulp to biomass power generation over the past couple of years on my drive to Oquossoc. Glad to read it is going on line soon.
 
Thanks for the links.
I love the idea of the power plant.
 
Burgess BioPower plant story never mentioned the price a kilowatt will cost. Jobs are great, but at a price.
Maine has a few biomass electricity producers, not sure if any are operating right now. Biomass electricity is expensive.
 
....and uses raw materials, some of which could go into making wood pellets. My vote is for a pellet plant :) ....one that makes GOOD pellets.
 
I'm happy to have the P68 installed after reading the last paragraph showing that more than 90% of the US will pay more for their heating this year.......not me!
 
The Berlin biopower plant has a 20 year deal with the local utility to supply renewable power. The cost per KW is not competitive with fossil fuel but far less expensive then the alternatives like solar and wind. It is also "dispatchable" IE they can generate power 365 days per year 24 hours per day when its needed unlike the alternatives.

They plan to be pulling in 1600 green tons per day of wood chips. The major benefit to the region is it creates a market for low grade wood which is one component of the revenue that landowners consider when they decide to cut or maintain their woodlands. Biomass chips don't sell for much at the stump but it is revenue. Landowners may start doing timberstand improvement (intermediate thinning cuts)that they may not have done without the low grade market. The local sawmill in Milan is doubling their production capability. Pellets are best made with sawdust from sawmills so even though a lot of low grade wood goes to Berlin there still may be more overall pellet production.
 
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the unmentioned up side is that coming south on rt16 through Berlin it no longer smells like old sandwich mixed with feet.
 
Every time I read an article like this, it reinforces my decision on switching to a pellet stove for heat, rather than propane, oil or (gasp!) continuing with electric!
 
the unmentioned up side is that coming south on rt16 through Berlin it no longer smells like old sandwich mixed with feet.

That's smell of money......... and good paying jobs. Berlin used to be a proseperous town, even though it had an odor. Look around there now. Pretty sad.

I'm glad to hear they will be running the power plant. At least that will provide a few jobs.
 
I was told by my environmental science teacher that if all of New Hampshire switch to wood-burning; that there would be only a supply for one year. There may be other sources but in reality we can strip our forests over the country in no time. One thing they did not point out the articles is about solar energy and the cost of it. But this is still good news for northern New Hampshire.
 
I was told by my environmental science teacher that if all of New Hampshire switch to wood-burning; that there would be only a supply for one year

I would like to see the basis for that assertion. Burning wood for power ? maybe, burning wood for heat I am not sure.
 
I was told by my environmental science teacher that if all of New Hampshire switch to wood-burning; that there would be only a supply for one year.
What else would you expect an 'environmental science' teacher to say?

Oil causes global warming.
Coal is too dirty.
Nuclear is too dangerous.
Wood causes deforestation.
Wind turbines are dangerous to raptors...

These nut jobs would have us all huddled together shivering around a single smouldering cow pie to stay warm if they had their way.
 
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No, the cow pie thing would not work either, cow poop is said to give off more greenhouse gases than automobiles. I guess we will freeze.
 
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since NH already has about the highest electric rates in the US, will this be a help or not? more likely this is being done to meet some "green house" gas target, no matter what the price is.
 
The first article was great for the wooded states that have lost the use of their timber over the years to overseas competition. It's nice to see that wood burning is making a serious dent in how people heat their homes now
 
What else would you expect an 'environmental science' teacher to say?

Oil causes global warming.
Coal is too dirty.
Nuclear is too dangerous.
Wood causes deforestation.
Wind turbines are dangerous to raptors...

These nut jobs would have us all huddled together shivering around a single smouldering cow pie to stay warm if they had their way.


What about using tides to turn turbines?
 
Careful, boys...if you start turning this into the "ash can" the mods will close the lid!
 
The Berlin biopower plant has a 20 year deal with the local utility to supply renewable power. The cost per KW is not competitive with fossil fuel but far less expensive then the alternatives like solar and wind. It is also "dispatchable" IE they can generate power 365 days per year 24 hours per day when its needed unlike the alternatives.

They plan to be pulling in 1600 green tons per day of wood chips. The major benefit to the region is it creates a market for low grade wood which is one component of the revenue that landowners consider when they decide to cut or maintain their woodlands. Biomass chips don't sell for much at the stump but it is revenue. Landowners may start doing timberstand improvement (intermediate thinning cuts)that they may not have done without the low grade market. The local sawmill in Milan is doubling their production capability. Pellets are best made with sawdust from sawmills so even though a lot of low grade wood goes to Berlin there still may be more overall pellet production.
 
The Berlin biopower plant has a 20 year deal with the local utility to supply renewable power. The cost per KW is not competitive with fossil fuel but far less expensive then the alternatives like solar and wind. It is also "dispatchable" IE they can generate power 365 days per year 24 hours per day when its needed unlike the alternatives.

They plan to be pulling in 1600 green tons per day of wood chips. The major benefit to the region is it creates a market for low grade wood which is one component of the revenue that landowners consider when they decide to cut or maintain their woodlands. Biomass chips don't sell for much at the stump but it is revenue. Landowners may start doing timberstand improvement (intermediate thinning cuts)that they may not have done without the low grade market. The local sawmill in Milan is doubling their production capability. Pellets are best made with sawdust from sawmills so even though a lot of low grade wood goes to Berlin there still may be more overall pellet production.
Plagiarism. ;)
 
The Berlin biopower plant has a 20 year deal with the local utility to supply renewable power. The cost per KW is not competitive with fossil fuel but far less expensive then the alternatives like solar and wind. It is also "dispatchable" IE they can generate power 365 days per year 24 hours per day when its needed unlike the alternatives.

They plan to be pulling in 1600 green tons per day of wood chips. The major benefit to the region is it creates a market for low grade wood which is one component of the revenue that landowners consider when they decide to cut or maintain their woodlands. Biomass chips don't sell for much at the stump but it is revenue. Landowners may start doing timberstand improvement (intermediate thinning cuts)that they may not have done without the low grade market. The local sawmill in Milan is doubling their production capability. Pellets are best made with sawdust from sawmills so even though a lot of low grade wood goes to Berlin there still may be more overall pellet production.

Have I seen this before somewhere? ;)
 
It's an echo in the room. ;lol
 
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