 Green Heat News
July 2010
Issue No. 12
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Dear Friends,
The Alliance for Green Heat is now just one year old and
thriving. As an Alliance, we bring many perspectives and constituencies together to help make wood heat cleaner, more efficient and more sustainable. Thank you for your interest, support and input.
Sincerely,
The Team at Green Heat
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Alliance for Green Heat Projects & Activities
Alliance Urges DOE to Include Wood Appliances in Energy Audit Metrics
The Department of Energy (DOE) is
designing national metrics for energy audits and the Alliance for Green Heat is
providing DOE with information on how important it is to include wood stoves
along with fossil fuel heating appliances. The Alliance worked with the EPA, several wood stove manufacturers
and HPBA to best make the case to the DOE. Click here for more info.
Wood
Heat Poster Raises Funds for Charity
The best
photographs from the "Show Us Your Woodpile"
contest are now featured in a poster! The Alliance is teaming up with Tarm USA based in Lyme, NH who ran the contest and produced the
gorgeous 20 x 24 poster. It's available for $10.00 plus $3.00 for postage. All sale proceeds are
being donated to the Vermont-based non-profit group Silent
Heat, which distributes cord wood to families who can't afford to heat their homes. To purchase a poster, click here.
Alliance Helps Form Firewood CSA
The Alliance is working with
Seneca Creek Joinery to use the Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) model to
distribute firewood. CSAs establish a
direct relationship between a farm and customers. Seneca Creek Joinery is offering wood to residents of Takoma Park, MD who use wood stoves to lower their fossil fuel usage,
that comes from the urban wood waste stream. Customers pledge
to keep the the wood covered and dry and burn hot fires in EPA certified stoves. For more info http://www.woodsurgeon.com.
The Alliance Receives a Matching Grant Challenge from USDA!
The Wood Education Resource Center (WERC), part of the US
Department of Agriculture, awarded the Alliance a
matching grant
of $72,708 to undertake a project on how to best incentivize clean wood
heat
appliances. The year-long project
will assess the impact of current incentive programs and produce a
toolkit of
options for federal, state and local officials. For info about WERC grants, click here.
The Alliance is Hiring a Program Manager
The Alliance for Green Heat is currently looking for a Program Manager to prepare a toolkit on incentivizing wood heat technologies. To learn more about this position, click here.
Comparison of Outdoor Hydronic Heater Regulations
After researching and compiling a nationwide list of outdoor hydronic heater regulations, we show the differences between the seven existing state regulations and five proposed state regulations. Click here.
10 Reasons that Heating with Wood is "Green"
The Alliance prepared a 2-page flyer for anyone to use and distribute on the top 10 reasons why its good  to heat with wood. (Watch this space in coming months for the top 10 reasons why we need to make it "greener.")
Haroll & Fumar Discover Wood Heat
Summer interns at the Alliance for Green Heat put together this hilarious
parody of the movie, Harold & Kumar, from the Director of "Dude, Where's
my Rebate?" Click here to watch how Harold and Kumar search for solar panels but fall for wood heat!
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Featured Reports
Headline creates storm of
controversy over Mass. biomass
When Steve LeBlanc, a reporter for the Associated Press
covering the release of the Manomet study, compared coal favorably to biomass,
groups fighting against the proposed biomass plants in Massachussets were
elated. Subsequently, all the
groups and scientists associated with the Manomet report issued their own
statements to try to get coverage of the report to be more balanced. Click here for the Manomet report, and
statements issued by Manomet, BERC, Pinchot, and BTEC.
NSPS Impact on Wood Stove Manufacturers
The EPA's process to establish new
national emission standards for residential wood and pellet heaters is being
applauded by some manufacturers and decried by others. We present an insightful
paper produced by two major wood stove companies about their concerns. Both companies support the EPA process
and feel it is long overdue. Document
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Featured Product
Fireplace Catalyst Wins EPA Clean Air Award
 On May 26th 2010, the US Environmental Protection Agency
recognized Clear Skies Unlimited for its dedication to excellence in achieving
clean air. After considering hundreds of potential
candidates, the award went to Clear Skies Unlimited based on the projected
impact that the HearthCAT Technology will have on future wood burning fireplace
emissions nationwide. The HearthCAT technology can be used in new construction
or fireplace retrofits, and in both open hearth masonry and low mass
fireplaces. There are 27 million fireplaces in America, more than twice the number of wood and pellet stoves and inserts.
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From the Newsroom
Should Green Homes Burn Wood?An excellent review of the pros and cons of wood burning from an environmentalists point of view. One of his conclusions: "anyone involved with green building should cut their own wood or buy their firewood from loggers concerned with sustainability."
StatesNorth Carolina has new markets for renewable energy. One result is
that Duke Energy has recently proposed to "co-fire" wood in its coal
plants in its move to increase use of renewable fuels.
Wood pellets should be part of Maine's plans
Maine can reduce its dependence on foreign oil by switching to home-grown heat. Maine has choices to make when it comes to its energy future. Our state has already invested millions in off-shore wind, and has steered millions more into home weatherization initiatives.
Incentive offered to replace old wood stoves
A wood stove replacement fund was
created during the June 2 Harney County Court meeting, using funds available
from the Oregon Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ).
An ordinance worth supporting: Air pollution must be addressed at local level
Alaska - Fairbanks Mayor Luke Hopkins argues for a reasonable air pollution ordinance because wood smoke is "a health hazard that endangers all of us, but particularly our
kids, our grandparents and those with asthma or heart disease."
International
Korea, Frank Lloyd Wright, and Wood Heat
In
Korea, Jai Soon Ko is the leading instructor of traditional mud house
architecture and proponent of "Ondol" wood heating systems, a roughly
5,000-year-old method that is making its way into modern society.
Commission to propose EU 'green tax' on energy in late June
Brussels - The European Commission is
to propose that energy fuels are taxed according to the amount of carbon
dioxide (CO2) they produce, in a bid to encourage energy efficiency and fight
climate change.
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Upcoming Conferences
Wednesday, August 4th-6th, Northeast Biomass Conference and Expowill connect the area's producers of biomass-derived electricity, industrial heat and power, and advanced biofuels, with waste generators, aggregators, growers, municipal leaders, utility executives, technology providers, equipment manufacturers, investors and policy makers.
Wednesday, September 15th-17th, International training seminar "Biomass heating - Market development and technologies" Linz, Austria
This
three day event covers all aspects of developing a market for biomass
heating. From technology to standards and from marketing to logistics.
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Last Chance!
Help Us Win the Green Grant Contest!
The Alliance for Green Heat is one of ten finalists competing for a "Green Grant" from Green America. Your vote can put us in the top 4 to win a grant of up to $2,500. Please visit Green America's website before July 19th and place your vote!
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Did you know?
Fossil fuel subsidies rose 63% in 2008.
Data released by the International Energy Agency documented $557 billion in global fossil fuel
subsidies in 2008, despite a
September 2009 pledge by G-20 leaders to phase them out. Click here for more info. |
Quote of the Month
"Yeah, I know that
wood stoves are just space heaters. But the space I want to heat is my house."
-Brother Bart, a frequent contributor to Hearth.com
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What is Green Heat?
In the Home Star bills, Green Heat is not just from wood stoves, pellet stoves, and boilers, but also from the other main forms of green heat:
1. Geothermal heat pump
2. Solar hot water
For a chart on which appliances will qualify you for rebates if Home Star becomes law, click here.
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Meet the Team
 John Ackerly, President
oversees policies, programs, and fundraising. He has 25 years of experience in advocacy and non- profit management.
Tom de Haan, a Researcher from Amsterdam, has been focusing on the carbon cycle of pellets and the carbon impacts of shipping them to Europe.
Murali Krishna, IT support, handles all IT issues and is building out the website, producing e-newsletters and troubleshooting.
Lauren Sobecki, a Researcher
from Catholic University, is focusing on green building issues, building codes and energy efficiency.
Hannah Platt, an Intern
from Walt Whitman High School, is researching and contacting college and high school groups concerned with renewable energy.
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Please Support Our Work!
Thanks To...
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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. All donations are tax-deductible to the fullest extent allowed by law. You can make a secure donation online through PayPal by clicking the button below 
We would like to extend our most sincere thanks to all of our supporters! Your donations help us advocate for policies to help everyday Americans heat their homes sustainably and affordably.
Founders --Dr. William & Frances Ackerly, the Arbolito Foundation, Family Alliance Foundation, the Ramsay Merriam Fund and Woodpellets.com
Founding members--April Bodman, Ann Down, Tina and Dave Egan, Kim Kaston, Steven R. Kaufman & JD Doliner, John Meeker, Nick Salafsky & Julie Segre, Nina Smith & John Ackerly, Tad Welch & Ali Schultheis and Anonymous.
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