News
UM biomass plans suspended

Dec. 6, 2011, Missoula, MT – A proposed biomass plant located within the
University of Montana-Missoula has been scrapped due to the low price
of natural gas.

The project has been debated for over a year, according to an article from Biomass Power and Thermal. However, UM President Royce Engstrom stated that continuing with the project was no longer a financially viable option during a Dec. 2 campus news conference.“While reducing (campus) carbon emissions is the right thing to do, I
cannot commit the university to doing so under conditions of financial
loss,” he said.

The biggest financial hurdle to overcome was the low price of natural gas, which is currently hovering at about $3 per MMBtu, according to the US Energy Information Administration.