GOV. RITTER TO HELP SCHOOL TRANSITION FROM COAL HEAT TO BIOMASS PELLETS

Gov. Bill Ritter on Monday will help Soroco High School in Oak Creek transition its aging and failing coal-fired heating system to a new woody biomass heating system. The South Routt School District high school is shutting down its manual coal-fired furnace – one of the last at a public school in Colorado – and replacing it with a geoexchange and woody-biomass heating system.

 

WHEN: Noon to 1:30 p.m., Monday, May 19, 2008

 

WHERE: Soroco High School, 305 Grant St., Oak Creek

Nearby Kremmling will supply Soroco with the woody biomass pellets from the local pine beetle kill. Woody biomass heating system provide jobs for rural and mountain areas, a clean energy source, and solutions to the pine beetle kill problem. This is an important step for Colorado's healthy forest initiatives.

The school will benefit from saved money, time, maintenance and improved health issues from replacing the coal-fired system with clean, renewable and energy efficient sources.

Monday's event will include a school-wide assembly, tour of the school and heating system, and a community luncheon. Soroco's Student "Green Team" will showcase its accomplishments at the luncheon. McKinstry Company, the energy services company managing South Routt's energy upgrades, also will make a scholarship announcement.