Original West Central Tribune article by Tom Cherveny.
The Minnesota Valley Alfalfa Producers are striving to concoct the right recipe for rural economic development and energy independence. Their test kitchen is the small Renville County community of Franklin, population 475. A system designed to use fuel pellets produced from farm-grown biomass is heating City Hall, the fire hall, and a city shop building. West Central Minnesotans showed up at an event hosted by the Clean Energy Resource Teams to learn more about the project and how it could be replicated in their communities.
‘’The heat is wonderful,’’ City Administrator Wendy Pederson said. “We’re very, very happy with it so far.’’ She spoke Wednesday to a gathering of people hosted by the Clean Energy Resource Teams who had come to see the latest step toward building the region’s agricultural-based, renewable energy industry.
The city had obtained $74,863 in grant funds to develop the biomass heating project and undertake energy conservation work in the three city buildings. Engineer Dan Reek of Rural Energy Connections, LLC in Eden Prairie, designed the system. It uses two hot water boilers to supply a steady flow of 190-degree water to heat the buildings.
The system was launched during the winter of 2010, and has now completed a full winter trial. It’s projected to reduce heating costs for the city by up to 50 percent. It replaces LP and electric heating systems.
Last year, a recipe of corn stalks, sunflower hulls, edible bean hulls and corn screenings comprised the pelletized fuel supplied by Minnesota Valley Alfalfa Producers for the system, according to Keith Poier, president of the cooperative located in Priam.
The recipe wasn’t the best, he conceded. The pellets packed lots of heat energy, but produced more ash and clinkers than desired. Franklin turned to wood pellets as fuel for the heating system this winter.
Poier said Minnesota Valley Alfalfa Producers is continuing to experiment and test different recipes for its pellets. “One of our main goals is that it helps the agricultural community,’’ Poier said. Minnesota Valley Alfalfa Producers believes that pelletized fuel from agricultural residues—and perhaps dedicated crops—could eventually help heat homes and businesses. Along with providing new revenue to farms, using locally produced biomass keeps money circulating in regional communities, Poier noted. “It’s what renewable energy can do for us,’’ he said…
