Band receives biomass award

Heating the Midwest, a biomass advocacy group, honored a Carlton County project and three others across the state in October at its annual conference celebrating Bioenergy Day in the Midwest.

Bruno Zagar, environmental specialist with the Fond du Lac Band of Lake Superior Chippewa, accepted a "Outstanding Biomass Thermal Heating Projects" award on behalf of the band for its Sawyer Community Center project that heats the building using scrap wood chips in an efficient boiler system, replacing the use of 15,000 gallons of propane and removing 85 tons of carbon dioxide from the air.

Also getting project awards were Todd Jaranson of Lonza Inc. in Cohasset for its boiler operation; Brad Jones and Bart Johnson from Itasca Community College and its biomass project in Grand Rapids; and Bill Koenig from Viking Company, which has a biomass burner operating on a poultry farm in Albany.

Stacy Cook, president of Koda Energy, accepted an award sponsored by the U.S. Department of Agriculture Forest Service in "appreciation for championing renewable energy" as it partners with the Shakopee Mdewakanton Sioux Community and Rahr Corporation in Shakopee to create energy from biomass.

The Sawyer system had its grand opening last spring. Fond du Lac and other bands across the Midwest set goals more than a decade ago to be more energy efficient. It saves money, obviously, said Sawyer district representative Bruce Savage, "but more importantly, we are committed to reducing our carbon footprint and protecting the planet for our children and their children."

The project is unique in that it has an automatic chip feeding process once they are unloaded from trucks. The chips are conveyed along drying trenches to maximize the wood's efficiency. The chips come from the band's forestry program with a backup from Savanna Pallets in McGregor.

The project's success has led to a similar system being placed at the Brookston Community Center.