Oak Savanna Update
The ongoing oak savanna restoration at our Lake Edith Site took a big step forward this summer, when over 4,000 tons of woody debris, produced as by-product of the restoration, was ground up and hauled away. The material was taken and used as biomass fuel in the District Energy St. Paul facility to heat and cool downtown.
District Energy St. Paul is a national leader in renewable energy and supplies downtown Saint Paul with heat generated primarily using biomass fuel – typically urban waste wood. The downturn in the housing market has recently made the supply of available wood less reliable. As a result, District Energy St. Paul has been searching for new sources of fuel at the same time that contractors are eager for new business.
This presents a real opportunity to conduct restoration projects on a scale not previously possible. To this end, the Minnesota DNR gave the Belwin Conservancy a grant in 2008 to harvest woody debris – including buckthorn – at a large enough scale to be used as a viable biomass energy source.
The over 8,000,000 pounds of biomass generated through this project have powered the downtown plant for several weeks. This saved tons of carbon, obviated the need for non-renewable and foreign energy sources, and has restored a beautiful oak savanna to its former glory. We hope this project will serve as a model of how supplying our domestic energy needs can further conservation goals here at the Belwin Conservancy and elsewhere.