C-015 Final Technical Report

• Main Author: Pelunis-Messier, Dave
• Language: unknown
• Published: 2023
• Subjects: 09 BIOMASS FUELS; Huslia; Indian; Yukon; Alaska
• Online Access: http://www.osti.gov/servlets/purl/1975232; https://www.osti.gov/biblio/1975232; https://doi.org/10.2172/1975232

The Huslia Tribal Council (HTC) and the Tanana Chiefs Conference (TCC), partnering with the City of Huslia, the Yukon-Koyukuk School District, and Alaska Native Tribal Health Consortium, applied to the U.S. Department of Energy Office of Indian Energy for funding of a community biomass boiler system. The biomass system contributes to heating three community buildings in Huslia, Alaska with locally harvested fuels: the clinic, the water treatment plant/washeteria, and the school. The remaining heating needs are supported by in-building oil-fired boilers, burning imported heating fuel. Some issues, such as control set points on the oil boilers, need to be resolved before the biomass heating system is used at full capacity. The project objectives of the community biomass boiler system were cost reduction, carbon reduction, community resilience, and economic development. Once fully operational, the cost reduction from decreased fuel oil usage due to support from the biomass boiler system is expected to more than offset the cost of purchasing locally harvested biofuel, resulting in overall savings to the community. Locally sourced wood is considered carbon-neutral, so the biomass boiler system decreases the carbon footprint of heating the community buildings. The project increases resilience by decreasing dependence on heating oil brought in from elsewhere. Lastly, it produces economic development by employing locals to gather the wood burned in the biomass boiler. This project satisfies all of the objectives that HTC set out to achieve.