There’s a lot of interest in creating fuels that produce less global-warming carbon dioxide, such as ethanol. But in Northern Minnesota, people are starting to use another one — wood waste from logging.

This form of biofuel, which can produce both heat and electricity, is not completely carbon-free, and it can only provide a small portion of needed electricity. But it may be a partial solution, and one that helps keep loggers in business.

At the wood yard of the Laurentian Energy Authority, a bobcat loads tons of wood chips into tractor trailers that supply the power plants in Virginia and Hibbing, which have been partially transformed to burn wood instead of coal.

Read this story at Minnesota.PublicRadio.org