GARDNER, Mass.
The electric bill was staggering. With $400,000 being spent to heat the Mount Wachusett Community College campus four winters ago, school officials were desperate for a new source of energy.
So they turned to woodchips.
The school had just converted its electric heating operation into a system that runs on biomass – products like wood and agricultural waste.
Although some were worried that burning 1,000 tons of woodchips wouldn’t generate enough energy to heat the 500,000-square-foot campus, their doubts melted away when the system worked and heating costs plunged with winter temperatures.
Instead of shelling out nearly a half million dollars for electric heat, the college paid a mere $31,000 for the woodchips. The savings is so great that school officials say the $2 million heating system conversion cost will pay for itself within 10 years.
At the same time, Mount Wachusett has so far reduced its greenhouse gas emissions – a polluted mix mostly containing carbon dioxide – by nearly 19 percent.
