UW-Madison to convert heating plant to burn gas, biomass

[Fledermaus]

The Charter Street Heating Plant that serves the University of Wisconsin-Madison campus will burn biomass and natural gas instead of coal under a plan announced Friday.

Gov. Jim Doyle, who supported proposals earlier this decade to build coal-fired power plants, announced last summer that the state would stop burning coal at state-owned heating plants in Madison.

"We must move away from our dependence on coal," Doyle said in a statement. "This new project will help build the biomass market in Wisconsin, keep the money we spend on energy in the local economy and create green jobs in the area."

Under the plan, projected to cost $200 million to $300 million, one of five boilers at the Charter Street plant will be converted to burn biomass, which could include cornstalks, wood chips and switchgrass.

A new boiler capable of burning 100% biomass would be built, and four coal boilers would be converted to burn natural gas.

The switch follows a legal victory by the Sierra Club in a case about air emissions from the plant. The state then agreed to look at other options besides relying on the Charter Street plant.

The biomass boiler is expected to be online in 2012 and capable of burning up to 250,000 tons of biomass a year, according to the state.

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