$630K state grant awarded for biomass energy system for Sullivan County School District

BY JAMES LOEWENSTEIN (STAFF WRITER)
Published: August 31, 2010

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A $630,000 state grant has been awarded to the Sullivan County School District help pay for a proposed biomass energy system for the school district's Laporte campus, state and local officials announced on Monday.

The system, estimated to cost between $1.5 million and $1.9 million, would provide most of the heat for the Sullivan County Junior/Senior High School and the Laporte Elementary School, and also provide hot water used in those buildings, said Steven Gobble, superintendent of the Sullivan County School District.

More than likely, it would be fueled by wood chips, although it is possible that it would use wood pellets, Gobble said.

"The system will replace 85 percent of (the schools') heating oil usage with sustainably harvested local biomass," according to a press release that state Rep. Tina Pickett's office issued Monday about the awarding of the $630,000 grant.

It is cheaper to heat with wood chips than heating oil.

"I believe the system will pay for itself (and, beyond that) save taxpayers money," Gobble said.

The $630,000 state grant comes from the Pennsylvania Energy Development Authority, Gobble said.

The biomass energy system would be similar to the biomass energy system used in the Wyalusing Area School District, but on a smaller scale, he said.

A $200,000 USDA State & Private Forestry Grant had previously been awarded for the Sullivan County biomass energy system, he said.

The Sullivan County School Board had previously given permission for a feasibility study for the biomass energy system, but has not yet taken a formal vote to proceed with the construction of the system, Gobble said.

That vote will probably occur at the Sept. 14 meeting of the Sullivan County School Board, he said.

"I'm very optimistic that we will do it," he said. "All indications are that we have the support (for the system)."

The Sullivan County School District's biomass energy system would require the construction of a building on the Sullivan County School District campus that would house a wood furnace, Gobble said.

The biomass system will include an external hot water thermal storage tank and will tie into the existing, central hydronic heating system at the schools, according to the press release from Pickett's office.

The Sullivan County School District has also applied for additional government grants to help pay for the system, and will find out in November if it has been awarded the grants, Gobble said.

The biomass system will allow the Sullivan County School District to reduce energy costs with a local energy source, Pickett said.

"I am pleased to see state grant funds coming home to Sullivan County for a project that will benefit both the schools and taxpayers but will also use a local energy supply," said Pickett, co-chair of the House Republican Policy Committee's Energy Task Force. "I applaud the school district's board and administration for its forward-thinking approach to saving costs while at the same time looking to conserve our valuable natural resources."

An engineer who has been working on the biomass energy system project for the Sullivan County School District will give a presentation on the system at the Sullivan County School Board's Sept. 14 meeting, which takes place at 7:30 p.m. in the Sullivan County Junior/Senior High School's auditorium, Gobble said.

James Loewenstein can be reached at (570) 265-1633; or e-mail: jloewenstein@thedailyreview.com.

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