Biomass in schools nixed

A study of options for heating Whitefish schools shows that using wood biomass isn’t likely to be financially feasible for the school district.

Tetra Tech of Missoula recently completed a biomass feasibility study for all three Whitefish schools.

Wood biomass uses fuel made up of the by-products of timber operations including limbs, trees and needles. The wood waste is run through a chipper or grinder to create fuel that is used in efficient wood boilers to generate heat. A number of schools across the state have installed biomass systems in recent years.

The study found that while biomass systems could be installed at the schools it wouldn’t be the most cost-effective heating solution.

“They are viable at either school,” Bayard Dominick, the school’s consultant on the high school remodel, said. “But the economics became suspect immediately.”

The study looked at creating one biomass system that would heat the high school and Muldown Elementary, and a separate system for the middle school.

Tetra Tech recommended against moving forward with wood biomass unless financial assistance could be secured to reduce the cost. A wood boiler system for the high school and elementary is estimated to cost roughly $1 million. A pellet boiler at the middle school would be around $200,000.

“We need to get the cost to $500,000,” Dominick said. “That’s not likely in terms of what’s out there with grants. At this time it doesn’t make sense.”

The study compared the cost of wood biomass with the district’s current heat system which uses natural gas.

The study found that using biomass at the high school would create an annual savings of about $36,000. However, the savings would not be enough to recover the initial investment of the biomass system prior to the 20-year life span of the system.

“We need a 12-year payback for it to make sense,” Dominick said.

Historically, natural gas prices have been more expensive or on par with wood pellets for the past 10 years, according to the study. In 2010, the district was paying $10 per million cubic feet for natural gas. However, natural gas prices have trended downward to an average of $7.50 per million cubic foot.

As part of the high school remodel, plans include creating the minimal infrastructure so that the new heating system could be converted to biomass in the future.