Colorado Springs Utilities (Utilities) is burning sawdust for electricity. The sawdust is being used to supplement coal in the utility’s efforts to switch to biomass.

The utility has begun to burn 25 to 50 tons of sawdust a week at its Martin Drake Power Plant as its first major foray into the use of renewable energy biomass. Sawdust is mixed with coal at a ratio of 1% sawdust to 99% coal. Officials say that this is the first of two phases and they expect that by 2011, 15% of the plant’s coal needs will be replaced by biomass.

By 2011, Utilities plans a $10 million project to add equipment to the plant to pulverize wood chips so these can be burned. Around 75,000 tons of coal a year is expected to be replaced by biomass using these methods.

Utilities officials say they will be able to generate 3% of the city’s power by burning wood in 2011.
Utilities also recently received word that it will get a $250,000 grant from the US Department of Agriculture for the project and officials have also applied for a $5-million grant from the US Department of Energy.
Utilities has been experimenting with biomass at the plant since 2006 as a way to meet Colorado’s state renewable energy standards. Currently, around 70% of Colorado is powered by coal.

Compared to coal, woody biomass has 2% less nitrogen oxide, 5% less sulfur dioxide, and an ash content of 0.1%.


-  Katrice R. Jalbuena

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Sources:

¹ http://www.csu.org/residential/environment/renewable/item2215.pdf
² http://www.csu.org/residential/environment/index.html
³ http://www.csu.org/residential/index.html