Volume 118

Green Heat News
June 2019
Focus on Congress and Wood & Pellet Heat Incentives
With strict eligibility requirement, residential biomass heaters were part of a major federal instrstructure program that helps finances whole house retrofits. The bill ran aground with the Administration, but could well come back before the summer is over.

The new compromise language, which AGH helped develop, would allow a $400 tax credit for biomass stoves, boilers and furnaces that are 73% efficient, HHV and on an EPA list of certified heaters.

The BTU Act is the most comprehensive package of incentives for biomass heating and also includes similar strict efficiency limits to be eligible for inclusion. Support on the Senate side is strong from New England states.
Focus on Federal Agencies
At long last, the EPA unveiled the wood and pellet heater database where you can find the heater that matches all your needs: high efficiency, low emissions, tested with cordwood, etc. AGH welcomes the new database as a huge improvement over the excel version. Its a work-in-progress and everyone is encouraged to submit corrections and suggestions.

The DOE has $5 million in grant money for stove, boiler and furnace manufacturers to make new, innovative products. It also comes in time to help some meet the stricter 2020 EPA emission standards and make stoves for how people use them, not just for lab testing. The first deadline was June 3.

The US Forest Service is funding 12 projects that increase markets for wood energy, including small-scale, combined heat and power projects and biochar market development. Biomass projects are in AK, AZ, CA, ID, MA, ME, MT and VT.





Focus on Change-Outs
The cleaner the stove, the higher the incentive; most people went for the $1,500 option. "We learned that there wasn’t as much of a connection to how clean the stove was to the cost. [And] the most efficient wasn’t necessarily the most expensive."

Fairbanks is adding a variety of tactics to its change out program including a Study of Retrofit Control Devices;
only #1 heating oil may be sold for space heating by 2020; only dry wood can be sold by 2021; no new construction with wood as primary heat source.

To reduce wood smoke, the town of Comox, British Columbia, will cease providing rebates for new wood stoves to replace old ones. Rebates will only be allowed for pellet stoves, heat pumps and gas stoves.


Focus on Fuels
An Australian engineer has now opened a facility to hydraulically crushes discarded wood chips to create high-density fire logs. Sourced from a recycling company, the wood pieces were once destined to end up in landfill but is appears that wax infused cardboard in also included, which minimizes or negates key benefits.  

A study by North Carolina State University researchers finds that a new cookstove design, which makes use of compressed wood pellets, reduces air pollution by about 90% for a range of contaminants associated with health problems and climate change. The findings stem from a Rwanda field study designed to test the performance of the stoves in real-world conditions.





Focus on Health & Air Quality
What’s the haze hanging over the northeastern United States in winter? Traditionally, scientists thought that organic particles in wintertime haze came directly from wood smoke and burning fossil fuels. But more than half the region’s wintertime pollution is actually the product of atmospheric chemistry—secondary particles produced by mingling of airborne chemicals—a new study finds.



AGH News

AGH Board of Directors recently voted to add Claire Hillan to the Board. Claire brings legal talent to the Board and was introduced to the issue as an intern at AGH in 2010. She attended CUNY Queens College and Creighton Law School, clerked in a U.S. District Court in Nebraska and now works for the non-profit Americans United for Separation of Church and State. She is also an adjunct professor and looks forward to spending time with her husband and 2 dogs in front of their newly installed pellet stove this winter.



Best of April Facebook
My dad taught me to save big logs for the overnight logs. But big logs can also contribute to far worse smoke.

Summer is coming. Remind your friends of this important advice.


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State News
California: People love their gas stoves but electrifying more gas appliances will bring down carbon emissions in the long run. On-demand electric or hybrid heat pump water heaters are also easy "green heat" options if you have solar or opt to buy renewable electricity through your utility.

Georgia: Jeff Thorton's crime was keeping a pile of firewood in his backyard that did not conform to the city's exacting requirement that logs stored outside be kept in piles four feet by four feet by eight feet.

Massachusetts: A bill in Massachusetts would remove pellet boilers from the state's renewable heating incentive program. Here's the response.

New Hampshire: A “Model Neighborhood Project” launched in Berlin, N.H., in 2011 with lots of wood pellet boilers in a single community creates a buzz about the technology. "We wanted to make the pellet delivery truck a common sight in town and catalyze broader interest in this modern way to heat with wood," said Program Director Maura Adams.

Oregon: Grant funding is now available for a wood stove change out program in Klamath County.Grants of up to $5000 are now available through Klamath County Public Health for homeowners wanting to replace their wood burning stoves.








Conferences & Webinars
Hershey, Pennsylvania, June 5-6, 2019
The Conference highlights the various applications of densified biomass, as well as trends and best practices within the industry.

Enderby, BC, Canada, June 12-13, 2019
Join Fink Machine June 12 and 13th for a two day advanced wood combustion course.

Epsom, New Hampshire, June 19 - June 20, 2019
The NFW is a two day event that focuses on the business side of the split firewood industry to assist companies with ideas to grow sales, profitability and business success.

Washington, DC, July 11, 2019
The event will bring together 30-40 businesses, trade associations, and government agencies to showcase renewable energy and energy efficiency technologies.

Durham, NC, July 16, 2019
A EPA workshop provides a forum for individual stakeholder views related to non-regulatory performance targets for sensors.

Wels, Austria, July 22-26, 2019
To find fresh solutions and new ideas for sustainable energy in buildings, industry and transport, we are inviting 33 young professionals and researchers under 33 to tackle this challenge in an event of collaborative thinking across disciplines.

Seneca, South Carolina, August 26-27, 2019
Register now for the annual convention.

Baltimore, Maryland, September 17-18, 2019
The Mid-Atlantic Bioenergy Council (MABEC) is looking forward to welcoming over 200 attendees from the Mid-Atlantic and beyond to Baltimore, MD September 17-18, 2019.

Burlington, Vermont, October 10-11, 2019
Renewable Energy Vermont's annual forum brings together business leaders, system operators, architects, builders, manufacturers, engineers, scientists, policy makers, and regulators.

New Orleans, Louisiana, April, 27-30, 2020
The Conference is the largest meeting of home performance and weatherization professionals in the country.

Washington DC, July, 2020
Competing teams exhibit and compete at the Build Challenge Event, as part of the Smithsonian Folklife Festival in Washington.
A US stove that is advertised as exempt and "coal only" but also says "Maximum log length: 23" and reduces "creosote accumulation." Coal stoves are not allowed to advertise as dual fuel stoves as they could in the past unless they test with the other fuel and provide that data to the EPA. AGH often receives tips about illegally advertised stoves from industry members, stove manufacturers and others. Those tips are often simultaneously sent to the EPA's enforcement office. That office cannot discuss ongoing enforcement actions and there is little way of telling how many complaints they are acting on.


Update on last month's misleading website : Last month we highlighted a page on the EPA website and we are happy to report that that page has been updated and now gives a full and fair portrayal of hydronic heaters.
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Last Laughs
Sometimes you just need to get away from it all.
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