Scraps of power: Wood waste targeted as energy source in Hall, Montana

The economic life of this Highway 1 town may literally rise from the ashes of its own sawdust.

What used to be slash in the logyard or flaws in the shaving pile could become fuel for the burners of a pair of businesses, thanks to new emphasis on biomass energy. Eagle Stud Mill and Big Sky Shavings are pursuing projects that could turn their waste wood into a power supply.

Eagle Stud is one of eight Montana mills working with NorthWestern Energy http://www.northwesternenergy.com/ on the feasibility of wood-fired electricity as a renewable energy source. The Hall business is the only one of the bunch that actually has an electricity generator on the property, which it formerly used to supply three-quarters of its 1 megawatt sawmill power demand.

Hall, Montana http://www.travelmt.com/mt-cities-Hall.html

By ROB CHANEY of the Missoulian

Full Story: http://www.missoulian.com/news/state-and-regional/article_c50d1cdc-bd37-11de-a3b1-001cc4c002e0.html