Sarah Middlefehldt, stanting, a professor at Northern Michigan University’s Department of Earth, Environmental and Geographical Sciences, leads Friday’s Michigan Wood Energy Workshop at the Northern Center at NMU. Industry leaders gathered to discuss the past, present and future of wood-based bioenergy. (Journal photo by Christie Mastric)

MARQUETTE — Wood energy is “inherently local,” said one of the organizers of Friday’s Michigan Wood Energy Workshop held at the Northern Michigan University’s Northern Center.

Sarah Mittlefehldt, Ph.D., an NMU professor in the Department of Earth, Environmental and Geographical Sciences, oversaw the interactive workshop, the purpose of which was to bring together leaders from Michigan’s forest products industry, policy makers, researchers, conservation officials, engineers, economic development experts, loggers and others interested in forest-based renewable energy.

The goal, she said, was to explore the past, present and future of wood-based bioenergy in the state and think about where wood fits into the low-carbon economy in general, and how Michigan in general and the Upper Peninsula in particular can become a leader in sustainable forms of wood energy production.

“If you look at a map where forests in Michigan are, the U.P. has a wealth of forest resources, and so we’re curious to see how this could contribute to economic development throughout the U.P.,” Mittlefehldt said.

NMU, she said, installed a boiler about 10 years ago at its Ripley Heating Plant that could burn wood chips, but currently is burning natural gas since the price for natural gas has plummeted. As part of NMU’s carbon neutrality efforts, the university has been thinking about other options when its natural gas contract expires in 2027.

“Is wood part of that? To what extent? What might that look like? What are the challenges?” Mittlefehldt said. “It gives us a little case study to think about what might sustainable bioenergy look like right here in our area.”

Ray Miller, a retired forestry researcher for Michigan State University, was one of the participants in the workshop.

Miller said if politics allows wood to be a renewable source of carbon, the question arises: How much is that renewable carbon worth?

“If we don’t recognize that there are some values to society with that kind of carbon over others, then we lose,” Miller said. “The other thing is: How are we going to use that carbon? Are we going to light a match to it and burn it, or are we going to figure out more valuable things to do with that carbon?

“Not that we can’t do both, but if we’re only looking at the lowest value product we can make from the carbon, we’re up against another hurdle because this wood that we’re talking about is not inexpensive to bring to a place that wants to turn it into something.”

Miller said that even making paper in the U.P. is becoming costly, and mills are finding it hard to compete internationally.

Another factor to consider, he noted, is where carbon and wood can be converted to a usable product.

“Is it going to be in our basement to heat our house?” Miller asked. “Is it going to be at the power plant at the university here? Is it going to be in a regional plant like the big ones that used to be along the lake out here to supply most of the Upper Peninsula and the mines?”

The systems that are chosen, he said, are dependent on the answers to these questions.

“Those questions have a lot to do with policy,” Miller said.

These issues can be raised with the hope that politicians — and the public– are listening, he said.

The workshop was funded by the National Science Foundation’s Science and Technology Studies Program.

Christie Mastric can be reached at 906-228-2500, ext. 550. Her email address is cbleck@miningjournal.net.