Deborah Prescott | Daily Press Poplar hybrid trees are shown in the winter sun at the Michigan State University Extension research center in Hyde. Biomass studies are some of the research conducted there. Bill Cook, MSU Extension forestry educator, believes harvest rotations can be as short as eight to 10 years for poplars.

ESCANABA — Bill Cook, forestry educator at the Michigan State University Forest Biomass Innovation Center, is hoping people really take a look at their heating systems and how they affect the environment.

“Biomass is anything organic, including animals, it’s all biomass. Anything that is living or has recently been living. But when we’re talking about heating, we’re actually talking about agricultural biomass,” said Cook.

Round wood material that may not be accepted at the sawmill is normally used in wood boilers to produce heat. Wood based systems use either cordwood, wood chips or pellets.

“We don’t use residues because it is high in non-wood biomass, twigs, leaves, things like that. They are harder to burn and there are naturally occurring contaminants in it,” said Cook. “Most of the nutrients are in those items and good for the growth of the trees.”

Mark Kleiman, owner of Kleiman Forest Products, has always been a proponent of biomass fuel and how it helps the local economy.

“Biomass heating not only has a positive environmental impact, but a positive economical impact as well,” said Kleiman. “It’s an excellent way to create jobs here at home, from the collection and transportation, to sales and maintenance. Per BTU, it is the cheapest fuel that you can use. That means more saving for everyone that uses it.”

Using biomass as a heat source has the added benefit of using an otherwise undesirable product created by forest management.

“To keep a heathy forest you must maintain it. By maintaining, you create by-products which can be used for biomass heating. It’s a win-win. You’ll have a healthier forest along with fire reduction and insect control, plus creating a renewable energy source for heat.”

When fossil fuels are burned (petroleum, coal, natural gas, etc.), the carbon that was stored underground transfers into the atmosphere as carbon dioxide. When wood is burned, it recycles carbon that was already in its natural carbon cycle.

“When you burn fossil fuels you are taking carbon from deep underground and moving it into the air, but when you are burning wood, you take carbon from the same pool. If you think of the basic carbon cycle of the planet, there are three or four main pools. The oceans are a huge pool, the air is a huge pool, and the land and vegetation, are main pools. Carbon is constantly moving in the pools, and all that is just fine because it is all in the carbon cycle of the same pools,” said Cook. “But when you start throwing fossil carbon into the cycle, you’re changing the sizes of the pools. That’s where the rub is. It’s carbon that is not in it’s natural carbon cycle when added to the system. All of the carbon when burning wood recycles back into it’s own ‘pool’, with no carbon effect.”

For some, using biomass for heat may be cheaper than other alternatives. The upfront cost of installing a wood boiler system in your home may be offset by the savings generated in fuel costs during the life of the system.

Not only homes use woody biomass, but facilities as well. Pinecrest Medical Care Facility, in Powers, uses a wood-thermal heating system run by Dave Vandermissen, head supervisor of maintenance.

“Our system was installed in 1984 and undergoes testing yearly. By burning wood Pinecrest spends $4,000 to $8,000 less compared to heating with natural gas,” said Vandermissen.

To keep the 140,000-square-foot medical care facility warm and cool year round, Marvin Nelson Forest Products, of Cornell, delivers wood chips every three to five days to the facility’s storage area.

“We use an absorption chiller to cool the buildings in the summer,” said Vandermissen. “Each room has it’s own thermostat so residents can choose what temperature they want in their room. It doesn’t matter to me.”

At Pinecrest they use every last bit of steam produced from the boiler with no waste — even the cement slabs are heated.

“We do have other means for heat, and use them when the wood boiler is down for maintenance, but nothing compares to it. The system is very cost effective and natural gas doesn’t burn as hot,” says Vandermissen. “The system is EPA regulated and has undergone many changes over the years. We produce a zero carbon footprint in the environment using wood, which is a renewable resource.”

North Central Area Schools use a wood-thermal system and have been pleased for years with the result. The school district installed a new system after the previous one ran for approximately 30 years.

“The system we use now was installed in 2014,” said Brett Harter, over transportation and maintenance at the school. “It’s low maintenance and basically runs itself.”

Wood chips are delivered from Performance Lumber Corporation, of Carney, which delivers 20 tons a week in the cold winter months, and every two weeks in the spring and fall.

“When it’s cold like this we go through it quicker,” said Harter.

The wood chips are in a separate room, like at Pinecrest, and moved into the wood boiler by the use of augers and conveyors. No smoke fills the air from the stack while running.

“The particles are collected in the system and you’ll see no ash from the stack,” Harter said.

Harter explained the system passed an emissions test when it was installed.