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 Green Heat News
September 2009
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Dear Friends,
We are heading into a
critical period for wood heat as the EPA begins a formal review of its
wood burning appliance policies (see the commentary below). The
Alliance for Green Heat has been incredibly active this past month! We are busy on many
fronts, including working to pass pending wood stove and outdoor
wood boiler bills in Rhode Island; urging stakeholders to strengthen
the woodstove changout program in Keene, NH; and conducting lots of
public outreach and education efforts (see our critique of the Consumer
Reports review of pellet stoves below).
In
next month's issue, we'll introduce our second Green Heat Hero, give an
update on how wood and pellet heat can be part of national climate and
energy legislation and how you can help promote cleaner wood heat
to become a vital part of our nation's renewable energy future.
We need your support! As an independent
non-profit, we do not accept advertisements, nor do we accept donations in
return for promoting any particular product or service. Please consider making a donation (all donations are tax-deductible).
Thank you!
The Alliance for Green Heat Team John Ackerly, Bhavna Sakhrani, Claire Hillan, Louis Spitzer and Amanda Johnson
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Consumer Report Rates Pellet Stoves
 The
latest Consumer Reports (October issue, pages 26-28) finally did a
review of pellet stoves. There are precious few independent objective
reviews of pellet or wood stoves so this report is a welcome development.
They reviewed six (recommended two and said to avoid one) of the major pellet stove models available on the market. All qualify for the
federal 30% tax credit of up to $1,500.
While
the stove ratings appear fair and objective, CR did not test for, or
list, information that is very important for consumers. For example,
they didn't list the emissions ratings, though these independent,
third-party ratings are fairly easy to look up online. While pellet
stoves generally are very clean, it would be a logical move for a consumer advocacy group to point out which pellet stoves are the cleanest on the market.
Link to Full Review |
Second New England Woodstove Changeout Program Lands in Keene, NH
Keene,
NH will start a woodstove changeout program in October of this year
that will provide possibly the biggest instant rebate - $1,000 - of any
changeout program to date. The city of Keene was selected because it
lies in a deep valley, surrounded by hills which trap high concentrations of
particulates from residential woodstoves. Wood smoke constitutes 25% of wintertime
air pollution in Keene.
Officials from the city, the state of NH, and the
EPA, along with other stakeholders, are working to design a program
that will maximize air quality benefits. The EPA is providing about
$100,000 in funding, which should help 1,000 households change out old,
polluting uncertified stoves with new certified appliances. The
program looked at the strengths and weaknesses of the statewide Vermont
changeout (concluded earlier this year) and hope that Keene
could become a national model for such programs.
The Alliance
for Green Heat is contacting many of the local officials and stakeholders, urging them to support measures that will strengthen the
program and ensure that air quality improvements aren't undermined in
the future by the installation of more uncertified stoves.
The Alliance for Green Heat is working with the Keene City Council, the
Keene Planning Commission, the NH Department of Environmental Services
and the EPA to identify and assess complementary
measures to go along with the changeout. For example, anyone in Keene
can go out and buy a new or second-hand uncertified polluting wood
stove and install it tomorrow in downtown Keene. To remedy this, the
Keene City Council should pass an ordinance requiring that any stove
installed in Keene has to be EPA certified.
Keene
should also require that old, uncertified wood stoves be removed upon
the sale of a home. This was recently approved at the state-wide level
in Oregon, and is likely to have a very positive, long-term impact on
air quality.
The Keene program allows people to trade in old
woodstoves, assuming certain conditions are met, and replace them with
a modern, clean burning wood stove that meets the Washington State
standard of up to 4.5 grams per hour (instead of the EPA 7.5
standard). It also allows people to switch to wood pellets, or to a
gas or electric stove based on EPA's "fuel neutral" policy. The
Alliance for Green Heat is urging the EPA to reassess that policy and
incentivize low carbon fuels rather than incentivize people to switch
back from a renewable, low carbon fuel to a fossil fuel. A different
option for Keene would be to give a larger rebate to buy a pellet stove
since they are very low emission and low carbon, and less of a rebate
to switch back to a fossil fuel appliance. Another option would be to
allow that $1,000 rebate to go towards a geothermal system, instead of
a fossil fuel heating appliance.
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Featured Product
Periodically, we will feature a product that we feel represents a breakthrough in wood burning technology. This a month, it's the Ecoteck Elena Airplus
pellet stove- this unit has a built-in humidifier, remote control, and allows you to
adjust the temperature and turn the stove on or off from anywhere using a cell
phone. It also can be ducted to take warm air into several adjoining rooms. The stoves, made in Italy, emit only 1.6 grams of particulates per hour
and sell for around $6,680.
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Rhode Island Update
Woodstove and Outdoor Wood Boiler Campaign
Two important bills (H5728 and H5218A) are
pending in the Rhode Island legislature that would require woodstoves
and outdoor wood boilers (OWB) to be EPA certified. The Alliance for
Green Heat is actively working with Rhode Island wood stove store
owners, environmental and air quality groups and local activisits to
make sure these bills pass, with some modifications. Almost all store
owners and organizations have been very supportive and the Alliance
is now circulating a sign-on letter which will give voice and weight to
their support.
The bills will likely be
addressed in the January legislative session and we are taking full
advantage of these months to build a larger coalition and build
awareness of the dangers of not passing the bills. The Alliance is
also calling on Rhode Island to extend tax credits to very clean
wood and pellet stoves as another way of incentivizing clean, renewable
and low carbon energy use.
Stay tuned to our Action Alerts for news about these efforts and how you can help!
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News
Maine Opens Doors to Environmentally-Friendly Heating Appliances:
As
soon as practically possible, residents in the Northeastern United
States will have more access to some of the most sophisticated and clean
European pellet boiler systems. Dutch heating specialists OkoFEN have
teamed up with Maine Energy Systems, who have pioneered the use of
automatic wood pellet boiler systems in the region. Maine Energy
Systems has heavily invested resources in effectively distributing
pellets, but also in training contractors to efficiently install and
service wood pellet boiler systems. Link to Full Article
New Hampshire Starts Cash for Clunker Woodstove Program to Improve Air Quality:
Citizens
of Keene, the first city in New Hampshire to take part in a woodstove
changeout program, will be offered a $1,000 to turn in their old stoves
and purchase new cleaner, and greener wood burning appliances. This
program comes as a consequence of excessive wood burning and high
levels of particulate matter hanging in the air. The Alliance for Green
Heat is urging state and city officials to strengthen the program and
eliminate loopholes that could undermine it. Link to Full Article
New York in Race to Become Fore-Runners of Developing High-Efficiency Wood-Fired Boilers:
The
New York State Energy Research and Development Authority (NYSERDA) has
granted funds to several wood boiler companies to put New York at the
forefront of providing home-grown renewable fuel, while simultaneously
highlighting the importance of thermal efficiency and low-air
emissions. Through research and demonstration, NYSERDA hopes to
maximize the energy efficiency of wood boilers, and increase public
awareness as the popularity of these heating appliances continues to
rise. Link to Full Article |
Our Advisory Board
Our Board of Directors is beginning to build an Advisory Board to assist the organization in achieving its goals. We are delighted to welcome our first two members
Josh Elmore
As Co-Director of The Arbolito Foundation, Josh Elmore has facilitated numerous small non-profit organizations to promote peace and compassion around the world. He continues to actively participate in bringing about change in our climate policy, and also contributes to advancing clean renewable energy resources.
Michael Green
Since establishing the Center for Environmental Health (CEH) in 1996, Michael Green has worked to advance protective methods to curb exposure to toxic chemicals from consumer products and safeguard public health. By raising awareness on the many viable solutions to a cleaner and greener future, Michael has achieved landmark success in helping to lead national efforts to end hazardous industry practices and the risks from toxic emissions.
Click to Read Full Bio's
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Thanks
To Our Supporters!
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We would like to extend our most sincere thanks to all of our initial and new supporters! Your donations help us advocate for policies to help everyday Americans heat their homes sustainably and affordably. Special thanks go out to our Founding Members: Woodpellet.com, Dr. William & Frances Ackerly, Steven R. Kautman & JD Doliner, Tad Welch & Ali Schultheis and Nina Smith.We would also like to thank Algienne Amrita, Nina Binara, Nancy Black, Stephen Fotis & Jill Riley, Michael Green, Charles Greg, Denis Kelemen, Sara Meling, Thomas McCoy, Bruce Rich, Katherine Skinner, Bill & Cathy Smock, Louis Spitzer, Andrea Strimling & Tsering Ngodup, and Tad Wysor for their support.
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Become A Green Heat Founding Member: Make Your Tax-Deductible Donation Here
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