Biomass Digest» Wisconsin

Wisconsin residents express concern over proposed biomass project

Jim Lane — Fri, 27 Aug 2010 08:15:12 +0000

In Wisconsin, more than 275 residents in Rothschild voiced their concerns at a village Board of Appeals meeting of a proposed We Energies $250 million biomass project to be sited next to the Domtar paper plant. The board approved the installation of stacks and a boiler building higher than village ordinances typically permit.
The project still must be approved by the Wisconsin Public Service Commission and the Department of Natural Resources. Thursday’s hearing was the first local step toward construction, but the village’s Planning and Zoning Commission and the Village Board also must approve the construction plan.

Nice-Pak goes “zero landfill” with waste biomass electricity program

Jim Lane — Thu, 22 Jul 2010 16:43:05 +0000

In Wisconsin, Nice-Pak Products, Inc., manufacturer of wet wipe products, announced that it has transformed its Green Bay, Wisconsin manufacturing plant into a “zero landfill” facility and plans to do the same with another of its four US plants over the next three years.

The Green Bay plant now converts all of its industrial waste into biomass pellets for electricity generation and helps the Company to avoid sending 1,200-1,500 tons of waste per year to landfills. All cardboard boxes, barrels and shrink wrap are recycled, and the remaining materials are converted into pellets.

Controversy swirls over $250 million Wisconsin biomass power project

admin — Thu, 28 Jan 2010 20:38:19 +0000

In Wisconsin, a $250 million project has been proposed to convert a coal-fired power plant at the University of Wisconsin-Madison has run into controversy because it would utilize nearly 20 percent of the state’s capital budget during the 2009-’11 budget period.

Controversy is also swirling over rising cost projections, infrastructure for transporting and storing biomass and the potential usefulness of excess power with a regional grid overloaded with power. Biomass is projected to supply 60 percent of the plant’s power. l