Other UP Woody Biomass Users

A Shining Example:  Pinecrest Medical Care Facility

One of the most inspirational examples of wood energy use in the UP is the Pinecrest Medical Care Facility in Powers half way between Iron Mountain and Escanaba.  This multi-faceted facility burns woodchips year around for space heating, food services, laundry services, snow removal, and air conditioning.   The system was installed about 1985 and has been periodically modified to improve its performance.

Across the UP, 70 Boilers are Fueled with Woody Biomass

Beyond the numerous wood stoves and furnaces in residences and small businesses across the UP, the main use of woody biomass for energy in the region is in wood-fired boilers.  A good idea of the nature and extent of this use can be obtained from a report developed for the Southeast Michigan RC&D Council entitled Exploring Woody Biomass Retrofit Opportunities in Michigan Boiler Operations.  Additional information about the boiler study is available at the Michigan Wood Energy website.

The following tables derived from the boiler study cited above summarize the status of wood-fired boilers in the UP.  Table 1 shows that there are 70 wood-fired boilers in the UP, ranging from none in Keweenaw and Mackinac Counties to 10 in Menominee County.  These account for only 1% of the 4706 boilers in the UP.

Table 1. Types of fuels used in boilers in Michigan's Upper Peninsula by county.

Table 2 shows the estimated additional wood-fired boiler capacity (in btu's) and wood use (in tons per year) that could be achieved by converting those existing boilers to wood fuels that would have paybacks of less than 20 years. 

Table 2. Wood use in boilers in Michigan's Upper Peninsula by county.