Green Heat News
A monthly news service for everyone
interested in renewable wood & pellet heating
February 2021
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Featured Stories
The 26% tax credit is now in effect. It covers the stove, installation, floor & wall protection, venting, chimney cap, etc. However, the IRS has not yet issued its expected guidance. AGH urges retailers and consumers to use the EPA database of certified heaters as the only reliable measure of efficiency until the IRS issues its guidance. This blog covers numerous other issues related to the new tax credit.
Attorneys for HPBA and EPA made oral arguments in front of three federal judges who had prepped well and asked many tough and probing questions. At times the judges seemed skeptical of HPBA’s arguments, but their attorney, Michael Chung, was well-prepared and handled their questions well. Two of the judges thought there may be grounds to dismiss the case on a technicality. It usually takes this court 2-6 months to issue a ruling.
BTEC is bringing together the leaders of the campaign to secure the 26% tax credit for high efficiency residential heaters and to broaden this coalition to include other key stakeholders in the thermal biomass community. The summit will focus on their next goals from Congress and the Biden Administration.
Those with no access to firewood are burning clothes, phone books, and mail. They’re dismantling sheep corrals, pulling up boards from front porches and sheds, harvesting dry bushes, and fitting any other makeshift fuel they can find into their wood-and-coal-burning stoves. Tens of thousands of people in Indigenous nations in northern Arizona are facing this heating crisis exacerbated by the shuttering of a nearby coal mine that has resulted in a loss of free coal.
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Focus on Federal Agencies |
EPA: On Wednesday, February 3 at 2:00 PM EST, the Senate Committee on Environment and Public Works will hold a “Hearing on the Nomination of Michael S. Regan to be Administrator.” The hearing can be watched live here. AGH urged the Committee to ask Regan a question on a federal wood stove change out program.
EPA: Two of the people on the shortlist for the top air quality official at EPA know a lot about wood smoke. One, Alberto Ayala, is the executive director of the Sacramento Metropolitan Air Quality Management District, which runs stove change-out programs. Another is Ali Mirzakhalili, who heads the Oregon Department of Environmental Quality's air office - again a place familiar with regulating wood smoke.
NACAA: The association of state air agencies has a long list of priorities for the Biden Administration, including: "meaningful enforcement is residential wood heater standards. After decades of being severely shortchanged, EPA must take decisive action to ensure the emission reductions intended to accrue from this important program are actually achieved."
Other recommendations relevant to wood heating, include working with low-income communities impacted by pollution.
EIA: The EIA projects that residential use of wood and pellets will remain flat through 2022. But it's easy to forget that homes in the US use far more wood for heating than the industrial and commercial sector combined. Households use 0.5 quad, commercial is expected to use 0.154 quad of waste biomass and the commercial sector will consume 0.036 quad of waste biomass.
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An emissions reduction report from the Canadian social justice think-tank Alternatives North recommended that the territorial and federal governments invest around $145 million in wood pellet boilers in the North West Territories over five years.
Knee jerk opponents of wood heat sometimes claim that using firewood is worse than coal based on the carbon footprint. But they often confuse headlines about biomass for electricity and don’t know where a lot of firewood in America comes from. In suburban areas, it's mainly from tree companies who cut up trees after storms or for homeowners taking trees.
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Having your chimney swept by a professional is not just the best way to keep your family and home safe, it's also an excellent way to learn from a pro while they do their work. Ask them to look at your clearances, your wood supply, and what your ashes and creosote levels tell them about your burning habits. AGH also includes recommended sweeps in the Washington DC area.
“I purchased a £200 air quality monitor, convinced that it would confirm that there was a problem with PM2.5 levels. I was therefore astonished to discover that our wood burner had no effect on PM2.5 levels, even when the door was opened for refuelling.” AGH recommends that wood stove experts and professionals buy PM monitors and document results.
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COVID-19 Stove Relief Fund |
The Stove Repair Relief Fund helps families impacted by COVID-19 to keep their stoves running safely. Air quality agencies, change out programs and low-income winterization programs can link to this fund to help their clients and residents. It provides up to a 50% reduction in the price of pellet stove parts for orders up to $500.
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State News
Arizona: The most desired Airbnb in Arizona has a wood burning stove and no running water or electricity—just like many of the impoverished homes on the reservation. Its $150 a night.
Idaho: So, what can these kids do about wood smoke pollution? They say educating the community about their findings can make a difference.
Nevada: “How we heat our homes matters. For Nevadans spending more time at home amid the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, removing older woodstoves would provide even more air quality benefits."
Utah: Under this five-year program, thousands of wood stoves will be replaced with fossil fuels—natural gas or propane devices—a justifiable policy where inversions and this bad. AGH urges programs to focus on heat pumps where possible, which will offer increasingly higher rates of renewable electricity.
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You know it's time to upgrade to an EPA certified stove when you look like this. Our readers loved this one.
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March 16-17, 2021
Track 1 of this event is "Pellets and densified biomass" and panels include residential heating.
March 23-25, 2021
This virtual event will feature six sessions on the state of the industry and latest federal policy developments from the US Congress, the Biden Administration and agencies.
Wels, Austria, June 22, 2021
The European Pellet Conference 2021 moves to the summer.
Louisville, KY, June 2021
HBPA moves to Louisville in June 2021. HPBA says it will be requiring masks on the showroom floor.
June 2021
NEUAC is dedicated to heightening awareness of the energy needs of low income energy consumers.
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Selling stove dampers with new 2020 compliant wood stoves?
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AGH noticed that a major online stove retailer was encouraging customers to consider buying a stove damper when buying a new stove. We have been going back and forth with them with reasons why we think this is not a good sales practice. Let us know what you think at info@forgreenheat.org. Under what conditions would you encourage someone to use a stove damper on a brand new stove?
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Thank you to everyone who donated to AGH during 2020! Your support makes a huge difference and is very appreciated. 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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