July 2023 Green Heat News

Volume 156

Green Heat News

A free monthly news service on renewable,

low carbon heating issues

July 2023

Features

DOE offering $4M to accelerate stove technology

The DOE has $4 million for up to four projects will be selected with a project duration of 12-18 months. Applicants will work collaboratively with BNL and LBNL to develop a scope of work and appropriate budget and to leverage their unique expertise to develop and validate the performance of innovative wood heater technologies. Slides from a webinar about how to apply can be found here.

10 states plan to sue the EPA over standards for residential wood-burning stoves

Attorneys general from 10 states plan to sue the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, saying its failure to review and ensure emissions standards for residential wood-burning stoves has allowed the continued sale of appliances that could worsen pollution. View their Notice of Intent to Sue here.

Analysis: AGH supports state lawsuit but grounds are dubious

Suing the EPA is an important tactic to keep the agency on a timetable and hopefully get the certification program badly needed resources. The narrative that new stoves may not be cleaner than old ones is a misleading PR strategy and obscures the real issues.

AGH, USDA Forest Service support growing demand for firewood in low-income communities

For a second year, AGH will help funding reach firewood banks across the country. Total funding for banks is about $700,000 with grants of up to $20,000 per bank. Firewood banks are helping to ensure that everyone has access to this lifesaving renewable resource,” said Forest Service Chief Randy Moore.

It's summer: Don't bring your firewood camping!

Those of us who heat with wood have lots of dry firewood that we can easily bring car camping. Resist the temptation. Even though it may not look like it, firewood isn’t dead. It often has live wood-boring beetles, tiny insect eggs, and microscopic fungi spores.

AGH News

AGH fights Mass. bill to exclude the cleanest automated wood pellet boilers

Proposed Mass. legislation would push pellet boilers out of the Alternative Energy Portfolio Standard. This would disincentivizing the most advanced residential wood heating system on the market today, giving homeowners more reason to stick with old fashioned wood stoves. AGH supports rapid electrification and believes biomass heat will help.

AGH supports wood heat in the IECC- residential code

Woody biomass is in danger of being removed from the "renewable energy resources" definition in the 2024 Commercial IECC. AGH opposes that and wants to make sure that doesn't happen for the Residential IECC. Our proposal suggests that the current definition of "renewable energy resources" remains unchanged, keeping "biomass" in the mix.

Agencies

USDA funds wood energy projects

The Biden-Harris Administration is committed to supporting the wood products and wood energy economies that are the lifeblood of so many people, especially for tribal and disadvantaged rural communities,” said Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack.

DOE releases Wood Heater Design Challenge workshop report

A key takeaway from the workshops was that continued collaborative efforts among stakeholders are necessary to ensure that in our changing energy landscape, wood heating technology continues as a renewable energy option for local communities. The report was written by BNL and LBNL with assistance from AGH. Learn more about the Wood Heater Design Challenge Workshop.

Firewood Banks

Applications open on Sept. 1 for firewood banks

During the second year of funding, we can fund new wood banks that are just starting up, the largest wood banks who got funded last year, and any existing bank that has not yet received funding. With increased funding and a streamlined application process, please help us spread the word about this funding!

A YoYo Ma benefit concert for firewood bank!?

Firewood banks are sometimes small, stand-alone volunteer operations and sometimes they are run by larger non-profits who provide lots of other services. This one got a world famous musician to help them raise money.

Wood & Pellet Stoves

European wood pellet prices slump on lower UK demand

Lower demand for industrial pellets doesn’t necessarily mean more fiber or cheaper fiber for premium heating pellets. In North America, only a few plants make both. AGH welcomes the reduction of pellets for electricity production, enabling those who use them in far more efficiency and sustainable ways such as CHP or just heat to be more affordable.

Firewood

Slew of factors driving up price of firewood in N.S.

Inflation is not the only reason firewood prices have increased in Nova Scotia. Competition with the construction industry for laborers, machinery prices, and interest rates contribute as well.

Tips for stacking and drying firewood, the Norwegian way

"Wood cutting is almost a cult in Scandinavia, and here in the North Country, too." Knowing the proper way of cutting, splitting, and stacking firewood is essential safety knowledge.

Masonry Heaters

Testing and improving masonry heaters

A new test lab in France was set up with the assistance of the North American Masonry Association. Both site built and factory made masonry heaters are far more popular in France and now have the benefit of this new lab.

The timeless charm of Swedish tiled stoves

When firewood was overharvested in Europe, the Swedish King launched a competition in 1767 for inventors to design a more efficient kakelugn – a tiled stove with a labyrinth inner system. The winner was Carl Johan Cronstedt turned the inner maze from horizontal to vertical, creating a stove that needed only three pieces of wood a day.

Electrification

Household gas bills expected to rise sharply; Strategic decarbonization planning needed

A new report by the ACEEE recommends policymakers begin planning now to minimize future costs to gas customers. “Electrification is likely the most cost-effective decarbonization strategy for most buildings."

People

John Gulland receives WETT Award of Excellence

The WETT (Wood Energy Technology Tran) Award of Excellence recognizes an individual who has made significant contributions to advancing the objectives of WETT Inc.

State News

FNSB accepts $1.25 million in stove change-out grant funds from the State of Alaska

Alaska: The stove change-out program, running since 2010 and designed to improve air quality in the Alaskan Interior, has so far proved successful, with North Pole cutting its PM 2.5 levels in half.

Tehama joins woodsmoke reduction program

California: "This program is a statewide initiative that employs cap-and-trade funds to mitigate greenhouse gas emissions. According to county staff, its goal is to assist households in replacing uncertified wood stoves or inserts, currently used as their primary heat source, with cleaner-burning, more efficient devices."

Why there's little to worry about over New York's proposed pizza oven 'ban'

New York: New York City has proposed a new rule, which would require pizzerias with wood- or coal-fired ovens installed prior to May 2016 to add devices that would reduce particulate emissions. This would affect less than 100 total restaurants in NYC; the number that would actually need to install these devices could be even less.

Vermont is moving from fuel oil to clean heat

Vermont: Vermont’s Legislature enacted the Affordable Heat Act (S.5) to curb greenhouse gas emissions from the state’s homes, offices and industrial buildings. Policymakers struck down Gov. Scott's veto to pass the measure.

Lawmakers weigh wood-burning for energy, heat

Massachusetts: Multiple bills in MA are hostile to biomass. Proponents of the bills seek to end all state support for woody biomass- both in generation of heat and electricity.

International News

7th graders vs. world-renowned scientists?

Canada: It may take 7th graders from wood heating communities to show scientists how to do carbon accounting. Many scientists argue that biomass is not helpful because it takes 30 – 50 years for trees to grown back and we need carbon reductions in the next 5 – 10 years. But many of the 7th graders may come from homes that have heated with wood for 30 – 50 years, and are part of the continuous, sustainable cycle when the households of the scientists live in continuously used fossil fuel.

“I always have energy – even in times of crisis”

Germany: Markus Niedermeier operates the wood heating system, which supplies the Hotel Oswald and almost 40 households in the village of Kaikenried via a district heating network – and has been doing so for around 18 years. “No tree is felled just for the purpose of heating.” For him, heating with residual wood is a sustainable form of heat generation.

German gov't settles dispute over heating law

Germany: Chancellor Scholz said that there had been “jolts” in the coalition over the heating law. “But today I think it has jolted to an end,” he added. The largest breakthrough is that options for switching to climate-neutral heating systems are to be treated equally.

Report: Wood pellet production grows in Spain

Spain: Residential heating accounts for nearly 70 percent of the country’s wood pellet consumption. Spain had 83 operational pellet plants last year, up from 75 in 2021. In addition to wood, pellets are also produced from olive kernels, tree nutshells, and sunflower kernels, with total pellet production estimated at approximately 2 million metric tons last year.

Best of Facebook

"The reason they invented stump grinders."

Misleading Article of the Month

Where is the EPA? HyProTherm selling uncertified residential outdoor boilers:

Advertisements posing as news articles are common on the internet but this one that advertises uncertified outdoor boilers for residential use is particularly misleading. All the links for this article about the benefits of home heating with outdoor boilers or furnaces go to Arkansas-based HyProTherm, who have been selling uncertified residential wood boilers for years, seemingly with impunity. Their page on EPA regulations takes it a step further, saying state law supersedes federal law, in their opinion, and many states do not appear to require certification. To support their case, they link to a large mainstream stove and boiler outlet, Obadiah’s, that maintains a webpage with a list of states which says EPA certification is not required in Hawaii, Michigan, Missouri, Tennessee and Wisconsin. Other companies provide what appears to be ideologically motivated misinformation to customers, a disservice to the customers who should get accurate information to base their decisions on. For instance, Outdoorboiler.com, a longstanding source of misinformation tells customers the EPA has banned outdoor wood boilers and they should “stick it to the EPA” by buying their products.

Conferences & Webinars

2023 Air Sensors Quality Assurance Workshop

Research Triangle Park, North Carolina, July 25-27, 2023

The 2023 Air Sensors Quality Assurance (QA) Workshop will help the air sensor community better understand established and emerging QA methods.

National Indigenous Clean Energy Forum

Vancouver, BC V6T1Z1 Canada, July 28, 2023

The overarching objective of the 20/20 Catalysts Program is to empower Indigenous communities by equipping them with the necessary tools, skills, and knowledge to become leaders in the field of clean energy.

Wood Pellet Association of Canada Conference and AGM

Ottawa, Canada, September 19-20, 2023

The WPAC Conference and AGM is your opportunity to learn about the most important issues from industry experts around the globe.

2023 Antique Stove Convention

Estes Park, Colorado, September 24-26, 2023

The Antique Stove Association brings amateur and professional collectors, experts and artisans who buy, sell, repair and restore antique wood stoves.

International Training Seminar- Sustainable Bioenergy Heating

Linz, Austria, October 2-5, 2023

The International Training Seminar focuses on small- to mid-scale projects fueled by wood pellets and wood chips: homes, smaller commercial buildings and district heating grids .

Annual Renewable Energy Vermont Conference

South Burlington, Vermont, October 18-19, 2023

The largest comprehensive renewable energy gathering in the region, bringing together a variety of stakeholders that are ready to build a path to a 100% renewable energy future.

Renewable Thermal Collaborative Summit

Washington, D.C., October 19-20, 2023

The Renewable Thermal Collaborative (RTC) is the global coalition for companies, institutions, and governments committed to scaling up renewable heating and cooling.

2023 New England Home Performance Conference & Trade Show

Springfield, Massachusetts, November 7-8, 2023

This two-day conference will deliver the latest region-specific updates and information to home performance and weatherization professionals living and working in New England.

HBPExpo

Nashville, Tennessee, February 13-15, 2024

HPBExpo offers interactive experiences, networking events and forums for conversations with peers and connections with industry colleagues.

Please support our work and keep this newsletter free of charge

Thank you to everyone who donated to AGH during 2022! Your support makes a huge difference and helps to keep this newsletter a free source of information for everyone. 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 | (202) 365-4765 | contact@forgreenheat.org | | www.forgreenheat.org