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Volume 119

Green Heat News
July 2019
Focus on NSPS
Quadrafire to discontinue 40% of models
Bigger stove companies like Quadrafire are starting to lay out which of their stoves will be 2020 compliant before May 2020, which ones after - and which ones are being discontinued. Quadrafire is discontinuing some of its best known stoves, but some of the models being discontinued have had problems.

Bill Wehrum, the EPA's air pollution chief, and the man who oversaw the on-again, off-again changes to the wood heater NSPS, is leaving the EPA under an ethic cloud. His departure has thrown the timeline for many complicated rulemakings in doubt. Anne Idsal, Wehrum’s principal deputy, will take over the air office in an acting capacity.

Easing the 2020 wood heater regulations made the list of one of 8 rules that is expected to be on the radar of the new acting head of the EPA air quality office. This article says that "EPA estimates the final rule will be done in October."
Focus on Congress
The Biomass Thermal Energy Council (BTEC) and the 140 members of the BTU Act Coalition, including AGH, submitted letters to the House Ways and Means Committee and the Senate Finance Committee Energy Working Group, urging inclusion of thermal biomass in renewable energy tax incentives. You can still add your institution or company's name to the coalition list.



AGH Programs & Activities
AGH's President travelled to Aarhus Denmark, the wood stove capitol of Europe, and found an innovative, forward looking stove building culture. Europe is ahead of America in some ways, like real world testing of stoves, cordwood testing, decertifying stoves after compliance audit testing and much more.

Richard Wright, editor of Hearth & Home Magazine, asked for input on why there is little innovation in wood heaters these days. Have the new EPA emission regulations stalled innovation? Can manufacturers tweak existing designs or just add a catalyst without really innovating? We think innovation is slowly happening and the next step is innovation in test methods.


Focus on Off-Grid Living
Living off the grid almost invariably involves wood heating as a primary or secondary heat source. This article has lots of good info, leads and inspiration but watch out for DIY floor protection which appears to be just firebrick on a wood floor.

A construction company built the "Site Shack" as a warm office that they would move to each construction site. Now, they build the pre-fab off-grid cabin for anyone. It features the Cubic Mini wood stove, fed by left over 2x4s on job sites.
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Focus on Health & Air Quality
The increased use of wood as a heating fuel has increased concern about potential safety impacts, specifically particulate matter (PM) emissions in the nanometer range. Larger particles (> 2.5 µm) can be effectively removed from exhaust streams by emission control devices. However, nanoparticles (NP), due to their size, are more difficult to capture in exhaust flue gases.
State & International News
States

Michigan: Michigan is making a push to develop the infrastructure to deliver bulk pellets to homes and institutions, like they have in New England. Yet, a market needs to exist before a bulk delivery network can become financially viable. Thus, a catch-22 of sorts. 

New Hampshire: Go big or go home. Dartmouth College has decided to go big: The college is replacing its entire campuswide heating network, switching from #6 heating oil, to sustainable biomass. The new hot water system can also be tied together with thermal solar, or heat pumps, or geothermal over time.

Washington: "There were 105 wood stoves turned in for $26,000 dollars in Okanogan County as part of an effort to reduce winter smoke in the mountain valleys. People received $250 for each old wood stove they turned in."

Europe

Demand for natural gas in Northern Europe is falling due to increase in heating with electric heat pumps and wood pellets. Residential and commercial gas demand peaked as far back as 2003. RWE, a German gas utility, predicts a 21% decrease from 2018 levels by 2030. Recent UK and Dutch regulation to outlaw gas supply to new homes are "really huge milestones."

The renewable heat coalition in Europe denounced the lack of consensus at a recent EU summit. The solution is simple: "Clean our buildings from obsolete, polluting technologies (think oil and gas boilers), replace them with efficient technologies (think geothermal, biomass stoves and boilers, solar panels and heat pumps): congratulations! You have proceeded to decarbonizing about half of Europe’s heating and cooling."

Germany plans to close all of its coal plants as it is able to rely on renewables, including a substantial amount of biomass heating.

The British net-zero by 2050 goal is not on track to meet but bioenergy technologies, such as modern biomass boilers, biofuels and anaerobic digestion, offer an immediate and affordable route to tackling these challenges by providing instantaneous carbon reductions in the hard to decarbonise areas of heat and transport.
















Conferences & Webinars
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.

Verona, Italy, February 19-22, 2020
The most important facility and equipment fair for heat and energy production.

New Orleans, Louisiana, March 11-14, 2020
Experience three impressive days of networking, deal-making, and inspiration.

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.
Please support our work!
The Alliance for Green Heat is an independent non-profit organization working to promote cleaner and more efficient biomass heating. Please consider making a generous contribution. The Alliance is a tax exempt 501 (c)(3) organization.

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Last Laughs
The NH legislature considered a bill to require removing uncertified wood stoves upon the sale of a home, as they do in Oregon. A libertarian site ignored the very narrow nature of the stove removal bill, and reported that the bill would "make i t illegal to own most wood stoves. Indeed, the increasingly radical and hateful political left-wing is seeking to freeze their own constituents to death. Of course, these tyrants claim that humanity could not survive even one more generation without completely eliminating the use of all fossil fuels."

Alliance for Green Heat | (301) 204 9562 | contact@forgreenheat.org | | www.forgreenheat.org