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Fuels for Schools Carbon Offset Program
The Montana Fuels for Schools and Beyond Program has entered into an agreement with The Climate Trust, a leading carbon offset organization, to allow eligible facilities to sell carbon offsets generated from their woody biomass boiler installations which displace the combustion of fossil fuels.
Burning wood is considered "carbon neutral" because, as trees grow, they pull carbon out of the atmosphere and when they die, decompose, or are burned they release that same amount of carbon. With this, there is no net gain of CO 2 in the atmosphere and growing plants and trees will continue to cycle that CO 2. Compare this to the burning of fossil fuels like petroleum and natural gas, which release old carbon that has been deep in the earth for millions of years, creating a carbon imbalance in the atmosphere which contributes to global warming.
Through the FFS&B Carbon Offset Program, eligible facilities can sell their carbon offsets to The Climate Trust if they satisfy specific requirements. These requirements include demonstrating that the facility would not be able to install a biomass system if not for the additional funding from The Climate Trust, and providing authorization of carbon offset monitoring and verification by a third party. Montana facilities that have entered agreements to sell their carbon offsets generated from biomass boiler installations to The Climate Trust include schools in Townsend, Troy, and Eureka, and the University of Montana-Western in Dillon.
The Climate Trust has made available nearly $355,000 to purchase carbon offsets from Montana FFS&B projects. This offset funding comes from a Montana-based utility, Basin Creek Power Services, LLC, that has purchased CO 2 credits to mitigate for increased emissions associated with a newly installed natural gas-fired power plant. With The Climate Trust paying out $6/metric ton of CO 2 offsets over a 15 year term, this funding will provide $4,500 to over $100,000 per FFS&B participating facility.
Additional greenhouse gas reduction benefits from woody biomass utilization for energy include, not only displacing the burning of fossil fuels, but also encouraging healthy forest thinning which improves forest health and strengthens its ability to sequester carbon. Finally, by burning woody biomass in efficient furnaces, instead of open slash piles or wildfires, that heat energy is harnessed instead of wasted and the release of harmful particulates are dramatically reduced.
