December's ice storms left a mess across mid-Missouri but, MU's power plant has found a way to turn that debris into fuel.

"We got the great wall of branches over there, yeah," said Debra Sloan, Ashland resident.

She lives right next to Ashland's recycling lot, the site of a tree limb dump.

"It was just, it was a mess," Sloan said. "It was ugly, it was unattractive. It was just a big mess."

But the mess is on its way out. Ashland is shipping off its leftover debris to MU's power plant. The power plant has tested corn cobs, crop residue, switch grass, and now wood chips as possible fuel sources.

"The wood burns cleaner than coal, so there is less emissions and it's just a win win situation," said Phil Shocklee, University of Missouri.

Power plant managers expect to receive 250 tons of wood, but so far, they're only halfway there. The wood chips are about five percent of the wood and coal mixture.

"I'm glad, I'm glad to see that it is going to some good use, you know. I hate that it happened in the first place, but at least somebody did clean it up. And I appreciate that very much," said Sloan.