Alaska Coast Guard Turns to Biomass for Heat
A Coast Guard station in Juneau, Alaska. (image: Ray Martin via Flickr.com)
Buildings located at two Coast Guard bases in Alaska will soon be heated using biomass comprised of timber, the Juneau Empire reported on Wednesday.
The buildings are part of the Coast Guard’s stations in Ketchikan and Sitka, two cities located in the southeastern part of the state. Currently, these two stations consume 155,000 gallons of heating oil per year. The Coast Guard is also considering converting the heating system at its facility in Kodiak to biomass.
Moving to biomass could also help grow Alaska’s timber industry as the Coast Guard has committed to purchasing locally produced wood chips. Using biomass as a heating source has become a bit of a trend nationally, including at Vermont’s Middlebury College, as detailed in this article previously published on HeatingOil.com.
