Columbia Water and Light Advisory board members approved a trial burn of a new renewable energy source for the city on Wednesday morning.
The Water and Light department will test a biomass product primarily made from corn waste products.
The biomass product is manufactured by a Columbia-based company named Enginuity Worldwide. Water and Light spokesperson Connie Kacprowicz says that the biomass product will be more efficient than the waste wood the plant currently uses as a renewable energy source.
"The costs of coal are going up and natural gas is probably going to start climbing due to exports, so solar is going to look better and better," says Kacprowicz.
The biomass product is manufactured by a Columbia-based company named Enginuity Worldwide. Kacprowicz says the tests will begin at the plant sometime in January.
According to city documents, the cost of the test burn is currently estimated at around $375,000. But, if the city receives a grant from a nonprofit, it could be reduced to around two hundred and fifty thousand dollars.
