St. Ansgar has secured its spot as the first school district in Iowa to approve the use of biomass energy to heat its facilities. The vote met unanimous support from school board members during a meeting Wednesday, May 15th. The decision simultaneously puts the St. Ansgar school district at the forefront for the use of alternative biomass fuels in public schools on a nationwide level.
“Biomass energy” refers to the use of organic solid materials to create energy. Biomass differs from biofuels in that it does not require the conversion of the organic matter to a liquid form in order to be utilized as an energy supply. The heating system will utilize a process called “vertically integrated gasification,” which will allow oat hulls in a solid, unprocessed state to act as the fuel supply, effectively eliminating the school’s use of natural gas.