Summary

The Mississippi Band of Choctaw Indians (MBCI) always seeks new opportunities to diversify its economy and create new career opportunities for tribal members, which is the purpose of this feasibility study. The MBCI will study the feasibility of locating a renewable energy installation on tribal lands. The technologies to be utilized in the renewable energy installation will be those that can readily handle poultry litter, either alone or in combination with wood residues. The purpose of the study is to determine whether such an installation can be both economically sustainable and consistent with the cultural, social, and economic goals of the tribe. The feasibility study will result in the development of a thorough business plan that will allow the MBCI to make an informed decision regarding this project.

Project Description

Objective

The Mississippi Band of Choctaw Indians (MBCI) proposes a study of the feasibility of locating a renewable energy installation on tribal lands. The purpose of the study is to determine whether such an installation can be economically sustainable, as well as consistent with the cultural, social, and economic goals of the tribe.

Scope

To achieve the goal of the study, the following tasks will be carried out:

  • Resource Availability Assessment

    To determine the amount and location of both poultry litter and wood residues for use in the proposed facility.

  • Power Utilization Assessment

    To determine the potential market size for power produced, the existing infrastructure for delivering power to that market, and the costs and economic returns for doing so.

  • Technology Review

    To identify one, or more, technical options for detailed economic and technical assessments. The study will consider a range of feedstock and product mixes, based on the resource availability assessment. These will include poultry litter and mixtures of poultry litter; wood residues as feedstocks; and electrical power and other ancillary products as outputs.

  • System Design(s)

    Based on the technical review, a pre-conceptual design for an installation will be developed.

  • Manpower Development Assessment

    To identify training needs for the selected option(s), and to determine how they can best be met.

  • Economic Assessment

    To determine the economic viability and sustainability of the technical option(s) identified through the technical review.

  • MBCI Compatibility Assessment

    To determine whether the renewable energy installation is compatible with the MBCI's cultural, social, and economic values. The environmental impacts and benefits will also be determined.

A project team led by the MBCI, who will produce a combined business and implementation plan for the proposed facility, will carry out this study. The team includes the Mississippi Alternative Energy Enterprise (MAEE), the Food and Fiber Center (FFC) at Mississippi State University, and the Diagnostic Instrumentation and Analysis Laboratory (DIAL) at Mississippi State University.

Project Location

For planning purposes, the study will assume that an installation would be located near the MBCI's headquarters near Philadelphia, Mississippi. The study will focus on the use of poultry litter, either alone or mixed with wood residues, since these are the primary renewable resources available to the MBCI. It will involve the use of this biomass to generate electricity that could be used on the reservation and exported into the power grid.

The Choctaw Reservation is located in east-central Mississippi. The reservation lands are not contiguous. Rather, they comprise almost 30,000 acres scattered across nine counties. Each of the counties is predominantly rural. Tribal members either live in the towns or on small acreages located in the county.

Project Status

This project is complete. For more, see the final report.

The project was competitively selected under the Tribal Energy Program's FY2002 solicitation, "Renewable Energy Development on Tribal Lands," and started in September 2002. The October 2002 and November 2003 presentations provide additional information. 

For other information, contact one of the project contacts.

Project Contact

John Hendrix, Assistant Director
Office of Economic Development
Mississippi Band of Choctaw Indians
P.O. Box 6005
Choctaw, MS 39350
Telephone: (601) 650-1605
Fax: (601) 656-9662
Email: jhendrix@choctaw.org

<p><strong>Tribe/Awardee</strong><br />Mississippi Band of Choctaw Indians</p><p><strong>Location</strong><br />Choctaw, MS</p><p><strong>Project Title</strong><br />Feasibility Study for Alternative Energy on Tribal Lands</p><p><strong>Type of Application</strong><br />Feasibility</p><p><strong>DOE Grant Number</strong><br />DE-FC36-02GO12102</p><p><strong>Project Amounts</strong><br />DOE: $139,790<br />Awardee: $0<br />Total: $139,790</p><p><strong>Project Status</strong><br />Complete</p><p><strong>Project Period of Performance</strong><br />Start: September 2002<br />End: July 2003</p>