Biomass Boot Camp Sept. 17 in Canton
CANTON — Institutions and businesses thinking about making the switch from traditional heating sources to biomass energy can get a comprehensive look at the pros and cons at a daylong workshop Sept. 17 at SUNY Canton.
The college's Richard W. Miller Campus Center will host the first of several Biomass Boot Camps across the north country organized by Rick Handley & Associates, Ballston Lake. The event is hosted by the St. Lawrence County Grass Energy Working Group and the Black River-St. Lawrence River Resource Conservation and Development Council.
It's dubbed a boot camp, event coordinator Richard L. Handley said, because it is a crash course on all the basic information businesses and institutions need to help them decide whether switching to renewable biomass will save them money over heating with fossil fuels or electricity.
"The purpose is to provide information for facility owners and managers who are looking for objective and reliable information about biomass technologies and fuels, the questions they have about development, and we are bringing together local experts to provide that information," Mr. Handley said. "This is the first of what we hope will be eight boot camps for New York and Pennsylvania over the next several months."
Chanda A. Lindsay, the Resource Conservation and Development Council's coordinator, said the event targets larger energy users. She said many probably considered biomass energy when fuel prices spiked two years ago, but have been hesitant to make the switch.
"It's a relatively new technology, and it's just a matter of people having invested a lot of money in traditional types of fuel burners, like fuel oil and petroleum-based fuels," she said. "The reason this group decided to target mid-level and higher-level users is because the burning technology for that level has actually come farther than home-scale burning technologies."
"Inevitably, petroleum prices will go up," said Jon M. Montan, a St. Lawrence County planner involved with the Grass Energy Working Group. "It goes up and down, but the general trend is up. It's something we have to look at seriously. The advantage of having the boot camp now is that people can evaluate and learn about this while they're not under so much pressure. If you understand the economics of it and what you have to do to implement it, you can get prepared for when petroleum becomes so expensive you want to make the switch."
Participants can register for the event online or by calling Mr. Handley at 1 (518) 466-6934. Ms. Lindsay said another boot camp is being planned for later this fall in Jefferson County or Lewis County.
ON THE NET
Rick Handley: www.rickhandley
associates.com
