Volume 121

Green Heat News
September 2019
Focus on NSPS
As the wood stove industry nears the May 15, 2020 deadline for meeting stricter emission standards, EPA records show a steady stream of stoves being certified but do not show which models, if any, failed. This blog explains why few models fail the EPA certification test and why that data is important.

The EPA recently sent a memo to wood heater test labs and third party certifies about significant lapses in documenting certification tests using the cord wood test method. (Photos in this story are for illustrative purposes only and are not connected to the EPA memo.)
‌
Focus on Forests, Firewood & Carbon
What has a bigger impact on forests and carbon: heating a home with wood or pellets, eating beef almost every day or keeping a third of an acre of grass mowed every year?
Its a good question for scientists. Americans mow 40,000 million acres of lawn every year - otherwise known as long term deforestation of previously forested land. States and the feds could save millions of dollars just by reducing how much they mow - and help reforest millions of acres just by letting them naturally regrow.

Jessie Young-Robertson, a forest ecologist with the University of Alaska Fairbanks found that the trees dumped 70 percent of their water content into the soil in a 24-hour period in late October. The water dump happened on one day in which temperatures remained below freezing. The finding could be significant because fall is a popular time to harvest firewood. Depending on when the trees are harvested, the wood could be very wet or much drier.

Thousands of tree trimmers, like Six Diamond Tree Services in New York, resell the trees that homeowners have taken down as firewood. The trees are coming down anyway, and will begin to lose their carbon and tree services add revenue by selling it. How come its rare to see a carbon analysis that accounts for this type of fuel?
‌


Focus on Innovation
The French stove company Invicta makes a pellet stove that plugs into a large pellet hopper mounted behind it, against a wall. And a version of that stove that can also accept wood or pellets, with the stove automatically switching to pellets when the wood fire is going out.
Best of August Facebook
Anyone know what these are used for?

Jakob North, a homeschooled 15-year old from Alabama designed and built a gasifier to run his 1992 pick-up truck. A great story.
State & International News
States

Alaska: The head of the EPA, Andrew Wheeler, made an unusual appearance at a local air quality meeting in Fairbanks as the state faces a rare federal takeover of soot standards enforcement in Fairbanks. Senator Murkowski was also in attendance, and the importance of stricter stove and boiler standards came up often.

New Hampshire: “We actually spent a fair bit of time looking at what we call ‘non-combustion options’ and from a technical perspective, we couldn’t make them work,” Keniston said. The college estimates it would cost five times more to build a heating system utilizing solar, geothermal and heat pump technology, while operating costs would be three times greater than biomass.

Oregon: Good write up of Oregon regulations, focusing on requirement to remove uncertified stove upon sale of home and potential impact of home energy scores in Portland.

Utah: The summer of 2019 is winding down rapidly, but I know many Utahns are still planning outdoor “stay-cations” across our beautiful state. With that, a word of caution in reference to our firewood quarantine.

Canada

An excellent write up by a Canadian retailer about which stoves can and cannot be sold in Canada. Basically, most provinces and all populous provinces will adhere to the EPA's Step 2 limits of 2 or 2.5 grams an hour as of May 15, 2020. A few provinces will still allow up to 4.5 grams.






















Conferences & Webinars
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 2, 2019
But efficiency is all year round.

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.

Shakopee, MN, Oct. 23
How industrial and commercial space heating is achievable utilizing biomass energy.

Saratoga Springs, NY, February 11-12, 2020
Proposals are currently being solicited.

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

Wels, Austria, March 4-5, 2020
With more than 450 participants from over 50 countries each year, it is the largest annual pellet event worldwide.

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.
Featured Advertisement of the Month
This company, Lion Energy , apparently missed the memo saying that pellet stoves have to be certified as of 2015. AGH would like to see more consumers offsetting fossil fuels with pellet stoves. But uncertified models like this haven’t gone through emission and efficiency testing, like all of their competitors have, and these tests provide important consumer protection and information. One site selling this stove says its "prefect for cabins, basements and emergency situations." But these are still residential applications and other small pellet stoves could provide those heating solutions. 
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.

  Become a Green Heat Supporter: Make a donation here 
Alliance for Green Heat | (301) 204 9562 | contact@forgreenheat.org | | www.forgreenheat.org