As a firefighter for the U.S. Forest Service, Arizona State University student Roy Miller witnessed first hand how dangerous it is to let flammable dry wood grow unchecked. So when he heard ASU was collaborating with Northern Gila County to install a biomass heating system fueled by wood chips into a Payson hospital or school, he lobbied intensively for the project manager position and reorganized his busy school schedule to spend the necessary fifteen hours a week working on the project.
“The Forest Service needs to cut down trees that grow too close together so they don’t compete for the same water system,” says Miller, a junior majoring in political science. “This wood is usually burned – there isn’t a use for it now. So this project plans to take some of that chipped waste wood and turn it into a fuel source for the community.”
The project began when Gila County Supervisor Tommie Martin approached ASU for Arizona, a university initiative that facilitates student-led alliances with the community, and proposed a collaboration to establish the first biomass heating system in Arizona. After receiving multiple phone calls from Miller and noting his enthusiasm for the project, ASU for Arizona director Barbara Shaw-Snyder made the ASU undergraduate the collaboration’s project manager.
“This project is so important to Roy because he cares about the forest, he understands the problem of overgrowth, and he’s passionate about being part of the solution,” says Shaw-Snyder. “Managing overgrowth is a strain on the Forest Service’s resources, but Roy’s project shows how it is economically feasible for private companies to help clear brush for the Forest Service by selling waste wood to schools and hospitals. So it’s a very deep project that functions on many levels to help the whole community.”
Along with Miller, the project is supported by a team of advisors that includes Jerry Payne, an expert in biomass heating systems with the Forest Service; Gary Snider, an ecological economist from Northern Arizona University; Ed Armenta, a Payson District Ranger; and Dennis Hoffman, associate dean, Research and Doctoral Programs: William L. Seidman Research Institute and professor of economics at ASU.
In May of 2006, Miller took his team on a tour of Northern Gila County’s libraries, hospital, schools, and government facilities to help assess which building would benefit most from a biomass heating system. When the group learned that both Payson Regional Medical Center and Payson High School planned to remodel their buildings, they began speaking with both organizations about adding a new heating system during renovations.
Once a building is selected, Miller’s team will collect information on the building’s specifications, heating bills, and energy requirements and arrange for a biomass heating system to be custom-built by the Biomass Energy Resource Center in Vermont.
“The main allure of this project is that biomass heating systems are a form of green technology,” explains Miller. “They burn cleanly and use resources available within the community, decreasing our dependence on outside sources of fuel and increasing our self-sufficiency. Biomass is also very cheap – a little over twenty dollars per ton of chipped wood – so the system will be able to pay for itself within a few years.”
“This project is a unique venture that can influence and educate other institutions,” he adds. “We hope our project will serve as a template for other organizations to model their sites after once they see how cost-effective and environmentally friendly these heating systems are.”
Managing this project is particularly challenging for Miller, who also maintains a full schedule of classes and plays rugby for ASU.
“I’m the kind of guy who likes to be busy all the time,” he jokes, adding that despite the heavy workload, being able to learn about and promote alternative fuel systems was an opportunity he couldn’t pass up.
“This project is designed to support both forest health and community needs,” he states. “It helps the community recognize the importance of the forest they live in and how they should be keeping the forest healthy. If I can help the community realize this, then I’ve accomplished a very important goal of mine.”
The Biomass Heating System Project is supported by ASU for Arizona, a university initiative that facilitates ASU-community alliances. Every year, ASU for Arizona has students plan, develop, and manage programs/projects that can help the communities or regions around Arizona. Learn more about this group by visiting its web site.
Interested in learning more about the benefits of biomass heating systems? Visit the Biomass Energy Resource Center’s web site.
To learn more about how ASU is engaged with the community, please visit ASU in the Community’s Program Database which connects you to a wide variety of specific ASU outreach efforts.
