ERMUSR MISC 09-11-2007 - Laserfiche WebLink

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Energy Services Bulletin Page 2 of 4 backup service agreements and walked the European company through the new MISO agreements. Long road to development Interest notwithstanding, it took years of discussions, public meetings, planning and permitting to make the innovative, utility-scale biomass powerplant a reality. Like most animal waste-to-energy generators, the Fibrominn plant started as anodor-control solution. Most of the manure from turkey farms in west central Minnesota winds up on crops. However, stricter environmental regulations and encroaching suburbs are pushing growers to look for alternative means of waste disposal. Greg Langmo, a turkey farmer in Lichtfield, Minn., found the answer he was looking for in Fibrowatt, LLC. The British company had developed and built three powerplants that burned poultry-litter in the U.K. Langmo attended a Fibrowatt presentation in 1998, and suggested that the company come to Minnesota. "The United States is the largest poultry producer in the world so there was cleazly a mazket for our technology," said Wieronski. The idea gained strong support from the Nisnnes~ta T_ urlcey Gro~rers_Asso__ciat~cr~, the Minnesota Building Trades Council, and many west central Minnesota county boards and economic development groups. That support helped push a bill through the Minnesota. House of Representatives in 2000 that added poultry litter to the state's 1994 biomass mandate. Open communication addresses concerns The community was supportive from the beginning of the project, encouraged by Fibrowatt's openness, as well as by the promised benefits. The company, now doing business as Fibrominn in Minnesota, held an open house in Benson in October 2000 to explain the project to residents and give them the opportunity to ask questions. The city also did its homework. A delegation of city council representatives went on a fact-fznding mission to Fibrowatt's three U.K. facilities. Their independent reports answered some important questions for residents and officials. "People were concerned about the smell the plant might produce, and the delegation didn't find any," Wolfington said. In Apri12001, Benson and Fibrominn established a Citizens Advisory Panel to ensure communication throughout the project. The city selected panel members carefully to represent diverse occupations. Members include a bazber, a science teacher and a local priest. "We looked for people who had a lot of interaction with the public," Wolfington said. "Our panel was in a good position to relay information to the community and get informal feedback." Fibrominn representatives worked with panel members to answer questions about truck traffic, odors, layout and air emissions. The panel continues to meet now that the plant is up and running, but Wolfington added, "In the U.K., residents stopped showing up to meetings because the plants http://www.wapa.gov/es/pubs/esb/2007/sep/sep071.htm 9/4/2007