CASE STUDIES

Elk Regional Health CenterElk Regional Health Center

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Economic Benefit:

The Elk Regional Health Center utilizes steam for heating, domestic hot water, sterilization and kitchen duties. These processes consume upwards of 36,491 DTH of natural gas annually.

With a biomass heating system, ERHC will burn approximately 2,785-tons of wood chips annually, at an average delivered cost of $32/ton, totaling $89,120 annually. By converting from natural gas to biomass, ERHC saved more than $94,000 in fuel costs in its first 6 months of operation at their Acute Care Facility. In the fall of 2008, they plan to extend this system to serve their Long Term Care Facility. ERHC estimates that with this addition total savings will exceed $300,000 annually. The purchase of local wood chips, approximately $89,120, stays directly in the region’s economy.

Environmental Benefit:

By utilizing a biomass heating system, ERHC sees various environmental benefits, such as employing a renewable fuel source that is produced in PA and is locally available.

Additionally, by using wood chips as an energy source, ERHC will be displacing approximately 36,491 DTH of natural gas with a wood, eliminating up to 2,146-tons of CO2 annually. Large CO2 reductions are possible because wood is considered to be a carbon neutral fuel.

Download Case Study (pdf)