Press Release from NM Energy, Minerals and Natural Resources Department
The first large-scale, biomass-fired heating system utilizing wood chips from small diameter tree thinning projects in New Mexico is taking place at a school in Gallina in Rio Arriba county. A ribbon cutting ceremony for federal, state and local dignitaries is scheduled for Tuesday, March 29, 2005 starting at 8:30am with opening remarks from U.S. Senator Jeff Bingaman. The event will take place at the Coronado High School Gymnasium in Gallina, New Mexico.
"We are very excited about this project and grateful to all who made it happen," said Robert Archuleta, Superintendent of Jemez Mountain School District. "Our schoolchildren benefit because our teachers have added this to the curriculum so they are learning about renewable energy. And our citizens benefit because it is less expensive to operate - more money that
we can put back into the classrooms."
Faced with soaring propane costs for heating, the Jemez Mountain School in Gallina, a rural K-12 school with approximately 400 students, was first awarded a $450,000 Forest Service-Economic Action Program grant in 2001 to design a biomass heating system for the campus. The grants provided under the National Fire Plan were established to reduce the risk of wildfire and improve forest health.
"This is a model project for small diameter utilization, and also a model for community and interagency partnerships in rural New Mexico", said Gilbert Zepeda, Santa Fe National Forest Supervisor. "If proven sustainable, it will open the door for similar renewable energy projects throughout New Mexico and the Southwest.
The Jemez Mountain School District contributed the building and $183,000.
Last year, the New Mexico State Legislature appropriated an additional $450,000 to the New Mexico Energy, Minerals and Natural Resources Department Energy Conservation and Management Division toward the project. In the summer of 2004, Rio Rancho-based Energy Controls, Inc. contributed the remaining third of the total $1.6M project cost through the use of an energy performance contract. Other contributors include La Jicarita Enterprise Community, Hurd Brothers Logging and Cordova Logging.
"This is a giant first step in creating an economic demand for small diameter wood in unhealthy forests," said Joanna Prukop, Cabinet Secretary for the Energy, Minerals and Natural Resources Department, "And it is also an excellent source of new jobs in rural New Mexico communities."
The system is installed and completely retrofitted into the school's existing propane heated system, which may be used as a back-up system. Wood chips are being transported to the school from a private logging company in Chama under a Forest Service grant awarded in 2001 to supplement the project. This will continue for an initial 18-24 month period. In the future, the Jemez Mountain School District will look to local community wood products producers to provide the small diameter material (fuel) from the surrounding Coyote Ranger District of the Santa Fe National Forest. The Jemez Mountain School will utilize approximately 400 tons of wood chips annually. Having material utilized locally minimizes transportation costs and addresses hazardous fuel reduction needs on the district.
