Oak Ridge goes green with biomass system

08/13/2008

By Candy McCampbell

The Oak Ridge National Laboratory in Oak Ridge, Tenn., is working on more than nuclear power.

The science and technology lab is going green, adding a wood gasification biomass system to replace its old natural gas steam plant and steam distribution system. The $89 million contract with Johnson Controls Inc. of Milwaukee was announced Aug. 11.

The energy savings performance contract calls for construction of a “super boiler” that will consume wood and wood products from the region, cutting fossil fuel consumption by 80% and significantly reducing greenhouse gas emissions. The plan will also eliminate more than 1.5 mi of steam piping.

It is projected to generate $8 million a year in water and energy savings and cut water usage by 115 million gallons each year.

No groundbreaking date has been set, although completion is scheduled for 2011.

The contract is one of four “energy savings performance contracts” announced by the U.S. Department of Energy to reduce water and energy use at its facilities. The others are at Idaho National Laboratory, Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory in California and National Energy Technology Laboratory in Pennsylvania.

Utilities or energy service companies like Johnson Controls buy and install the improvements and are repaid through the cost savings.

The energy and operations savings are expected to total more than $144 million during the 18 years of the contract.

ORNL is a U.S. Department of Energy facility managed by UT-Battelle LLC that works in energy, neutron science, high-performance computing, complex biological systems, materials research and national security.

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