Delaware County's latest bioenergy project is in its second month of burning grass pellets to heat the town of Franklin's highway garage and offices.
An open house to showcase the three-year pilot Delaware County Grass Bio-Energy Project will be held from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. March 28 at the facility at the intersection of state Route 357 and county Route 21.
On Feb. 3, a grass pellet furnace and stove began providing energy to use for the garage, meeting room and offices.
Troy Cave, the Franklin equipment operator in charge of the pellet stove and furnace, said it is taking about a ton of grass pellets a week to heat the facility.
"It's really a win-win situation," Cave said. "Farmers get to make use of fields they haven't used in years, and we get to save money on petroleum fuel."
The production-to-consumption grass bioenergy pilot project is the result of a partnership between Cornell Cooperative Extension of Delaware County, Cornell University, the Catskill Watershed Corporation and the Delaware County Department of Economic Development.
Mariane Kiraly, Delaware CCE spokeswoman, said Jerry Cherney, an agriculture professor at Cornell University, has been exploring the use of grass as an energy source.
Kiraly said the local project became possible when Bob and May Miller of Franklin, owners of EnviroEnergy LLC in Wells Bridge, purchased equipment to make grass pellets.
The Millers have been purchasing hay from Delaware and Otsego County farmers in a 40-mile radius. They then grind and pelletize it, selling it by the bag to homeowners who primarily used wood pellets in their pellet stoves.
Kiraly said the project has created a local energy loop in which the growing, converting and burning all occurs here.
Alan Rosa, CWC executive director, said a tour was recently conducted of the Millers' grass pellet production facility and the Franklin highway garage.
"It looks like it all works," Rosa said. "The Millers are making a great product.
"We are really enthusiastic," Rosa continued. "We want to see if there is an economic development opportunity here in the watershed. And what is really neat about this is that the worse the quality of the grass is, the better it works." Kiraly said a meeting is being planned for the first week of May to meet with farmers, educating them about what types of grass work best.
"It takes woody, rough grass to make the pellets," Kiraly said. "It doesn't work with good grasses like alfalfa."
The advantages of a local grass biomass project include machines on the farms to harvest the grass, compatibility with livestock and crop operation, maintaining open space through harvesting and grass being an annually renewable crop.
Kiraly said the three-year pilot project will involve the installation of grass pellet stoves and furnaces in five municipal buildings. The next installation will be inside the Andes highway building this year.
Kiraly praised the town of Franklin for its efforts.
"They were open to the idea and completely supportive," Kiraly said. "They are progressive-thinking people."
At its meeting Sept. 25, the CWC board of directors authorized spending up to $195,500 from the Catskill Fund for the Future for the three-year pilot project.
