Panelists Kamalesh Doshi and Samantha Dunn, along with panel organizer Sarah S. Smith, discussed the The Community Roadmap to Renewable Woody Biomass Energy (the Roadmap) as part of a panel at the Woody Biomass Energy Research Symposium. The roadmap is a civic decision‐making tool—a document—designed to help a community or group systematically work through an information gathering and decision‐making process to assess whether a woody biomass energy project is an appropriate option. The publication is chocked full of information and worksheets, which can be filled out electronically or with paper and pencil forming the basis for a full feasibility study. The “Roadmap” was developed by The New Hampshire Wood Biomass Heat and Power Task Force, which is comprised of over forty individuals, organizations and agencies with the goal of creating district heat and power throughout New Hampshire. The primary partners for the task force are North Country RC&D (Resource Conservation and Development Area), Plymouth State University, UNH Cooperative Extension and the Northern Forest Center. The Task Force identified five critical topics, which present barriers to communities trying to move biomass‐energy projects forward. The topics included: Technology/Equipment and Suppliers; Systems Installation/Operation and Management; Funding Opportunities; Air Quality Regulations and Benefits; Fuel sources and availability; Public Policy and Regulations. In addition, the task force, identified community engagement as the most important, and often neglected, piece of any successful district energy project.
You can read more about the symposium here: http://www.uvm.edu/~cfcm/symposium/
