Above: Jim Waters, the executive director of the Catskill Forest Association. Photo courtesy of the Catskill Forest Association.
Does it make sense to heat the village of Fleischmanns with wood? Hear what the experts think at a public forum this Saturday.
For two years, a consulting firm called Biomass Energy Resource Center has been studying the feasibility of creating a woodchip-fired central heating plant for the village that would pipe heat underground into 170 homes and businesses.
The proposed project is being coordinated by the Catskill Forest Association, with the New York City Department of Environmental Protection and the U.S. Department of Energy footing the bill. Transitions Catskills and the SUNY College of Environmental Science & Forestry (ESF) are also pitching in.
On Saturday, Jim Waters, the executive director of the Catskill Forest Association, is presenting the results of the feasibility study at the February meeting of Fleischmanns First. All are invited to attend.
The timing is nice -- earlier this month, Governor Andrew Cuomo launched "Renewable Heat NY," a statewide "low-emission biomass heating initiative." Cuomo wants to promote exactly the kind of large-scale municipal heating projects that Fleischmanns is considering. (The governor's announcement about the program was part of his 2014 State of the State. See page 66 of 2014 State of the State Briefing Book.)
Fleischmanns Forum: Utilizing Local Resource as an Alternative Energy Source. Saturday, February 1, 10 a.m., following the Fleischmanns First meeting. La Cabana Restaurant, 966 Main Street, Fleischmanns.
The Catskill Forest Association, which is spearheading the Fleischmanns community biomass project, is a Watershed Post advertiser.
