The Pembina Trail Resource Conservation and Development Council, headquartered in Red Lake Falls, MN, has received a $25,000 Northwest Minnesota Foundation (NMF) grant for a project that will test fuels developed for a biomass gasification power plant.
This project takes on goals of both the Pembina Trail and the Giziibii RC&Ds: using underutilized sources of biomass available in northwest Minnesota to locally produce an alternative source of energy. The project will test some of the biomass sources of fuel available in the region, convert it to a gas, and test the fuel as a source of energy.
Several Minnesota mills are considering installing a biomass gasification power plant. This power plant would use existing sawmill residue to produce electricity. The bark and sawdust byproducts from the milling process present an excellent economic opportunity to produce renewable power. Other fuel sources such as sunflower hulls, wild rice, grain sceenings and switchgrass will also be tested as a means to compare resource materials from northwest Minnesota. The project will provide data to minimize the potential risk for installing a new renewable energy power plant.
According to NMF President John Ostrem, the project may open the door to other biomass-based opportunities and spin-offs. "Several industries within the northwest region already produce substantial biomass wastes that could potentially be used for energy production," he said. "The relatively small scale and reasonable installed costs of biomass gassifier plants that are currently available make them attractive for the smaller, decentralized industrial applications that are found throughout our region."Crookston Daily Times
