Goodbye To Coal, Hello To Biomass

EarthTechling
by Kristy Hessman, October 20th, 2011

Eastern Illinois University just opened one of the largest biomass installations in the country on its campus. The Renewable Energy Center (REC) is a 19,000 square-foot steam plant that is expected to cut campus energy use in half and carbon emissions by 80 percent.

The plant includes two biomass gasifiers that use wood chips from forest residue that are broken down in a heated, oxygen-deprived chamber into a synthetic gas that burns like natural gas. High-efficiency boilers create the steam used to heat classrooms and buildings across campus. The university said the setup will reduce its annual carbon dioxide emissions by an estimated 20,000 metric tons by eliminating coal from its heating-fuel repertoire. The old steam plant, which had burned 10,000 tons of coal every year, will be decommissioned and repurposed for other university needs.

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