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November 2013
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Green Heat News 
Issue No. 51
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Join Our Mailing List
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Stay up to date with all things wood heat. All the cool kids are doing it! To sign up,
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Have YOU Voted?
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Visit the Popular Mechanics polling page to cast your vote for the most innovative stove in the Challenge! (Only one vote allowed per IP address.) The People's Choice Award will be announced at the Decathlon, 4:00 PM, Sunday Nov. 17 by James Meigs, Editor in Chief of Popular Mechanics. |
AGH People
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Welcome to John Bonitz from the Southern Alliance for Clean Energy to our Advisory Board. John's specialty is biomass, emphasizing economic development and responsible policies to ensure bioenergy is done sustainably and in ways that help the climate.
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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: trevor@forgreenheat.org
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Wood Stove Design Challenge Updates
Congressman Chris Van Hollen, Forest Service Chief Tom Tidwell and the Danish Ambassador are among the VIPs speaking at the Opening Ceremony on Friday the 15th or the Awards Ceremony on the 19th.
Welcome to New Exhibitors ETAS, GACC, etc.
ETAS, one of Detroit's leading sensor makers for cars, the Global Alliance for Clean Cookstoves, ClearStak, Catalytic Hearth Coalition and others are exhibiting their wares and ideas at the Decathlon.
Welcome New Sponsors, DC, WPPSEF
The District of Columbia's Urban Foresty program, West Penn Power Sustainability Energy Fund and others have invested in the Decathlon and its follow-up. We've now raised over $150,000 and we still have $10,000 to go. Please consider becoming a sponsor!
 Meet the Competition: A Weekly Showcase
Follow our weekly blog posts featuring the Decathlon Teams and their innovative stoves. Our most recent post highlights Lopi's Cape Cod Hybrid.
Popular Mechanics Interviews the Teams
 See interviews Popular Mechanics published with Walker Stove, University of Maryland, Travis and Kimberly.
More Speakers and Officials Confirmed
Officials from EPA, DOE, USDA and DOI are confirmed to speak, along with members of Congress, state regulators , judges, teams and a wide range of experts. See updated speakers and schedule.
 Monitoring PM2.5 with Cell Phones Almost Here
Mr. Heimbinder, 36, runs a nonprofit organization called HabitatMap and is a pollution hunter. Armed with a portable sensor attached with Velcro to his biceps, he uses his smartphone to record fluctuations in air quality.
Let Your Friends and Colleagues Know You're Coming!
The Decathlon is free, open to the public and no registration is required. But we want to know if you are coming. Click to RSVP.
Thank you to our sponsors! Be part of the future and support innovation that matters. Become a sponsor of the Wood Stove Design Challenge.
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How You Can Help
Items Needed for the Wood Stove Decathlon
Please consider an in-kind donation to show your support for the Wood Stove Decathlon and the Alliance for Green Heat.
Volunteering at the Wood Stove Decathlon
If you will be in the DC area during the Decathlon, from November 12 to November 21, please sign-up to work a shift. Contact Trevor Gionet at 301-841-7881 or via email at trevor@forgreenheat.org.
Invite Your Members of Congress to the Decathlon
Please invite your members of Congress to attend the Decathlon and learn about how wood heat can be very clean. Visit our action center and use a sample letter.
Thank You For Your Support!
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See what's going viral on Facebook
 Like us on Facebook!
"Like" the Alliance for Green Heat page on Facebook to get breaking news and analysis from a consumer perspective. Most liked posts in September:
- Consumer Alert! Manufacturers should tell consumers if their uncertified stoves can't be shipped to their states.
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Washington Watch
Groups Sue EPA Over Outdoor Furnace, Boiler RegsA coalition of environmental and health groups filed a federal lawsuit Wednesday seeking to force the Environmental Protection Agency to issue updated regulations for wood-burning furnaces and boilers.
The use of cord wood and wood pellets as the primary residential space heating fuel has increased by 39% since 2004. About 8% of households use wood as a secondary source of heat, making wood second only to electricity as a supplemental heating fuel.
Neither the federal government nor the biomass industry needs an arrangement like the M)U to promote forest health or produce renewable energy, but its presence creates new opportunities for growth and improvement.
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Focus on Europe
In the UK, the woodburning stove is becoming the new badge of middle-class respectability. About 175,000 households are installing a wood stove each year, five times more than in 2007. In 2014, the world's largest solar exhibition Intersolar Europe will extend the field of solar heat generation to include other renewable heating systems, such as wood-chip and pellet heating systems, mini combined heat and power plants and heat pumps.
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Weatherization & Outside Air Focus
We brought ducted outdoor combustion air to our wood stove by punching a hole through the back of the unused fireplace.
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From the Newsroom
States
CA: Money to help replace as many as 600 older wood stoves in Butte County with newer, less polluting models may be coming, thanks to a legal settlement between Mississippi firms and the EPA.
Read more here: http://www.kansascity.com/2013/09/21/4498378/new-fairbanks-air-quality-regulations.html#storylink=cpy
ME: Maine offers a $250 rebate for pellet stoves and wood stoves with a minimum tested (B415) efficiency of 69% for non-catalytic and 77% for catalytic stoves.
Hospital Saving Money with New Biomass Boiler
ME: Wood pellets made in Maine will replace at least 60,000 gallons of No. 2 heating oil annually thanks to a new $478,00 biomass heating system installed at Millinocket Regional Hospital.
NH: New England is at the tail end of nearly every energy pipeline except for one: wood. That's why after Natural Gas, wood is the cheapest way to heat your home in terms of dollars per BTU.
NH: It's not really new, but you might say its hot right now. Interest in wood pellet heat is growing once again as oil prices keep hovering above $3 per gallon.
NY: A consortium of private companies and public agencies wants to promote the use of wood-pellet fuels produced within the eight counties of the Southern Tier as a fossil-fuel alternative.
OR: Oregon's attorney general has joined six of her peers in suing the EPA for allegedly not adequately limiting air pollution emissions from new residential wood stoves and heaters.
OR: Oregon tightened efficiency eligibility for wood and pellet stoves. Oregon HPBA & national HPBA are working to have the efficiency thresholds relaxed. Will all stoves be eligible again?
PA: Area firewood sales seem to be making the cut as residents stock up to warm up for the oncoming winter months. Many sellers are keeping their prices steady or even reducing them.
UT: In this opinion piece, the authors disagree with a proposal from Utah Physicians for a Healthy Environment that wood-burning stoves should be banned in Utah.
UT: The air quality in the world, and Utah County, has improved over the last decade or so. A recent report found that the impact of air quality has on diseases has been reduced.
VA: The Southern Alliance for Clean Energy tours biomass-heated facilities in Virginia including a hospital and a university.
VT: Vermont's Norwich University celebrated the opening of its $6.2 million biomass heating plant Oct. 25.
WA: The conflicting interests of those who burn wood for heat and those concerned about wood smoke have clashed for decades. But today, we're seeing real progress.
WV: Hardwood stoves remain, by far, the most economical way to heat your home this winter. A typical hardwood stove will produce one million BTU for $13.57.
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Upcoming Conferences and Webinars
Annapolis, Maryland, October 30, 2013
The conference aims to aid in advancing the responsible use of Maryland's vast supply of woody biomass for clean, affordable energy production.
November 6, 2013
This webinar, hosted by BTEC, will explain how biomass thermal systems are addressed within the USGBC's LEED program.
November 7, 2013
The Department of Ecology is updating the statewide rule and plan for solid-fuel burning devices like wood stoves, pellet stoves, and masonry heaters and holding a public hearing, in person or online.
Wood Stove Decathlon
Washington, DC, November 15 - 19, 2013
AGH hosts an international technology  competition, panel discussions, and product and ideas exposition for innovative wood stoves on the National Mall. Be there!
Great Energy Efficiency Day 2013
Washington, DC, November 20, 2013
The Alliance to Save Energy presents a lineup of speakers to discuss how to double the US energy productivity by 2013.
Progetto Fuoco
Verona, Italy, February 19-24, 2013
High-tech stoves and fireplaces will be on display at Progetto Fuoco, the leading international biennial exhibition of technology for the use of alternative and renewable energy sources.
World Sustainable Energy Days
Wels, Austria, February 26 - 28, 2014
This attracts thousands of participants from all over the world. Great minds discuss what's next in green energy and efficiency.
Northeast Biomass Heating Expo
Portland, Maine, April 9-11, 2014
The Expo unites a diverse audience from fuel, supply chain, developer, manufacturer and government sectors to break barriers for biomass thermal and CHP.
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Photo of the Month!
We love sailing, kids, winter and wood heat. But mixing all 4 together!?!?
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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. The Alliance is a tax exempt 501 (c)(3) organization. You can make a secure donation online through PayPal here: -- Dr. William & Frances Ackerly -- American Biomass -- Arbolito Foundation -- Chimney Safety Institute of America -- Constellation Energy -- Family Alliance Foundation -- New York State Energy & Research Development Authority -- Osprey Foundation -- Ramsay Merriam Fund
-- Jim & Patty Rouse Foundation -- Takoma Foundation -- University of Maryland Extension Service -- Wood Education and Resource Center, Northeastern Area State and Private
Forestry, U.S. Forest Service
-- Maryland Energy Administration
-- DC Dept. of Transportation, Urban Forestry Administration
-- U.S. Forest Service
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Become a Green Heat Founding Member: Make your donation here
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