Weekly Price of Oil
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March 20, 2012: $105.68
March 20, 2011: $102.36
Source: ycharts.com
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Office Equipment Needed
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Have a printer, scanner or computer that is still relatively up to date and in good working order that you don't need? Donate it to the Alliance for Green Heat and get a tax credit. Contact:
melissa@forgreenheat.org
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Summer Opportunity
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The Alliance for Green Heat is currently seeking a full time summer intern or fellow to assist with a wood stove design challenge. Applicants should have an interest in engineering and have excellent communication skills. A travel stipend is provided. For more information click here.
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AGH People
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We would like to welcome Jonathan Kays of the University of Maryland Extension Service to our Board of Directors
and Scott Nichols, President of Tarm Biomass, to our Advisory Board.
Congratulations to Andi Colnes of our Advisory Board who recently left BERC and is now the new Executive Director at Energy Action Network!
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Wood Heat Poster
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Wood Heat Posters are available through the Alliance for $10 (plus $3.50 for postage). All sale proceeds are donated to groups supplying wood or pellets to low-income families who cannot afford to sufficiently heat their home. The initiative is coordinated by TARM USA. Please make checks payable to the Alliance for Green Heat and send to:
Alliance for Green Heat
6930 Carroll Ave, Suite 407
Takoma Park, MD 20912
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Join Our Mailing List
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And stay up to date with all things wood heat. To sign up,
click here
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Alliance for Green Heat Projects & Activities
Wood Stove Design Challenge off to a Great Start
 The Alliance for Green Heat's Next Generation Wood Stove Design Challenge is off to a great start! As of March 19, six teams have registered their intent to participate. Our early list of Registered Teams include:
- HWAM
- SOLID ROCK HEAT
- TRAVIS
- TRIFOGON
- WITTUS
- WOODKILN
If you would like to register your interest in competing in the Challenge, please use the registration form.
Sponsor a Team
We are looking for companies and institutions that would like to participate in the Design Challenge by helping one of the Teams. You can sponsor or become part of a team by registering what you can bring to the table: equipment, know-how, funds, fuel, etc. We are particularly looking for wood stoves that a Team could adapt. Three companies have already expressed interest in sponsoring Teams:
- ECLIPSE DISTRIBUTING (Michigan)
- SPECIALTY GASKETS, INC. (Canada)
- BIOMASS FUEL STOCKS OF PA (Pennsylvania)
If interested, please use the link above or contact us at challenge@forgreenheat.org.
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Washington Watch
Home Energy Tax Credits Extension Dies in the Senate
Many of us hoped that the 25C tax credit would be retroactively approved, even if only at the 2011 level of 10% up to $300. However, in March, several bills that would extend the credit did not receive the required 60 votes in the Senate.
HOMES Act Includes Rebates for Wood Appliances
  The HOMES Act, H.R. 4230, recently introduced by Rep. McKinley (R-WV) and Peter Welch (D-VT), would incentivize comprehensive energy-saving improvements. By creating a rebate program, the legislation would help homeowners afford home energy efficiency retrofits that lower energy consumption and cost. Wood appliances are eligible.
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Focus on Firewood
Dry Wood Scheme "Good News for Residents"
An area in New Zealand is starting a "Dry Wood Scheme", which would sign up wood merchants in the region who agree to provide wood with less than 25% moisture content. The scheme is aimed at reducing the use unseasoned wood and improving air quality in the region. We will be studying this initiative to see how to replicate it in the U.S.
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Focus on Emissions
Does Wood Smoke Have Negative Non-Respiratory Health Effects?
A study conducted by the University of Copenhagen, University of Aarhus, and Aarhus University found that exposure to different levels of particulate matter from a wood stove has no damaging effects on DNA and blood vessels. For the full paper, click here.
Wood Smoke: Lung Association Action Recommendations
The American Lung Association in Maine (ALAME) assembled a group to develop strategies to address wood smoke complaints. The main recommendations were to clearly define a wood smoke violation, ban the use of outdoor wood boilers during certain times of the year, promote mediation rather than civil suits to resolve conflicts, eliminate old woodstoves, and keep the issue of wood smoke on the public health agenda. This all sounds reasonable to us. How about you?
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Featured Video
This video produced by The Danish Wood Initiative shows how wood is the most environmentally friendly raw material and an energy source. 
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Featured Product
 Tulikivi's newest Harmaja soapstone fireplace combines convection with radiant heat. Its innovative design provides the quick release heat of a wood stove, with the warmth and long-lasting radiant heat storage only a masonry heater can provide. Its unique features helped it win a 2012 Vesta Award
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Consumer Spotlight
 Think twice about throwing away your wood ash. Wood ash contains elements that growing plants need, including phosphorous, potassium, calcium, and boron. It is also basic and useful in raising the pH of acidic soils. Test your soil and check your plants to see if wood ash would be useful in your garden. |
From the Newsroom
International  UK Company Offers Free Biomass Boilers
A company in southeast England is offering free biomass boilers to businesses that are looking to reduce their heating bills. The installation and cost of the boilers would be recovered through the UK's Renewable Heat Initiative.
National Masonry Heaters Offer Clean, Efficient Warmth AK: Masonry heaters have been gaining popularity in the US over the past 20 years. How are they different from ordinary wood stoves? Some key features make them as clean burning as wood burning can get. Stanislaus Firewood Cutting to Start CA: Stanislaus National Forest will begin selling permits to allow people to take dead and down wood for home use beginning April 1st. Wood cutters must follow rules aimed at protecting the forest. Cache Valley Residents Offered Wood Stove Rebate ID: Idaho is offering a rebate, discount, and tax credit to Cache Valley residents who wish to replace their old appliances with cleaner-burning wood stoves. The wood stove rebate program ends April 30th.
MT: Personal firewood permits will be available in Gallatin County on April 1. Permits are valid from April 1 through March 31 and require a minimum purchase of four cords for a total of $25. NH: Churches in Charlestown, New Hampshire want to start a community woodpile project to help residents heat their homes. Similar projects have been implemented in communities in Vermont. Thermal Energy Moves toward Inclusion in RPS
NH: The NH State Senate adopted Senate Bill 218 by unanimous vote. Heat energy can be - and is - metered in kilowatt hours, just like electricity. This makes the extension of any RPS to thermal possible. The bill gives a modest incentive for renewable thermal energy - solar thermal, geothermal and biomass thermal.
 NJ: Dave and Mary Bayerl have spent the past five years building their cordwood dream house. The cordwood home is not only made of cordwood walls, but will also feature a wood gasification stove which is twice as efficient as as a traditional wood stove.
PA:  Is it legal to take wood cut by road crews and left on the side of the road? This article says you need to know if the roadside is private property or not. Wood Stove Bill Stalls in Rhode Island RI: House bill 7371, introduced by Representative Arthur Handy, would phase-out wood stoves without EPA certification in densely populated residential areas. If passed, this bill would make Rhode Island the first eastern state to adopt the progressive policies of Washington and Oregon on wood stoves. Unfortunately, the bill did not pass. Bill Shouldn't Affect Peninsula Wood Stoves WA: A bill passed by the state legislature banning the use of uncertified wood stoves, inserts, or fireplaces at least 20 years old in certain parts of Pierce County, Washington will have no effect on stoves in Jefferson and Clallam counties. Unlike parts of Pierce County, counties on the North Olympic Peninsula do not have similar particulate problems. Renewable Heat Now Qualifies for State Energy Credits WA: Renewable thermal energy now qualifies for renewable energy credits (RECs) in the state of Washington after Governor Christine Gregoire signed a bill originally sponsored by Rep. Jeff Morris-D. |
Upcoming Conferences and Webinars
Masonry Heater Association Conference
North Carolina, April 17 - 21
This conference is open to MHA members only. For information on how to become a member, click on the link above.
Heating the Midwest Conference & Expo
Eau Claire, WI, April 25 - 27
This event will bring together leaders in the biomass thermal renewable energy industry to discuss and formulate strategies for expanding the use of biomass in the Midwest.
Pellet Fuels Institute Annual Conference
Mashantucket, CT, July 29 - 31
Annual opportunity for members of the biomass fuel industry to gather for three days of educational opportunities, vendor exhibits and and networking. Attendees include manufacturers, retailers, industry suppliers, government officials, and more.
US Biochar Conference
Rohnert Park, CA, July 29 - August 1
A conference designed to advance our understanding of the economic, science, and policy issues related to biochar as both an amendment for soils as well as an agent to sequester carbon.
PBEA Fall Conference
Harrisonburg, PA, October 2 - 3
PA Biomass Energy Association's first technical conference on the use of sustainable biomass feedstocks for heat, cooling, and power applications. Registration opens early May.
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Photo of the Month
 | | It may not have the precision of a Swiss watch, but this man from Switzerland found a good enough way to heat his Suburu. |
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