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Top stories in past issues:
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Focus on NSPS
EPA confirms release of rules this week;
details on last  minute lobbying on hot air furnaces and test methods
The EPA intends to release the final NSPS on Tuesday. In January, most key stakeholders had meetings with OMB, and public records show details of who attended and what issues were raised.
Retailer says new EPA rules won't impact his business
Michigan Gov. Synder signed a bill into law which prohibits state agencies from enforcing the EPA's regulations on wood heaters. But a local retailer says he's not worried about stricter regulations.
Missouri sends message to the EPA over stove rules
Missouri legislators haven't seen the EPA's new stove rules yet, but they already don't like them, and their state won't enforce them.
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Stove Design Challenge 
The Next Stove Design Competition
Plans are afoot for a pellet stove design challenge in early 2016. If you have input into how such a competition can be most worthwhile and pellet stoves should be tested, please contact us.
 Designing the Next Generation of stoves
Wood stove tech competitions have their roors in early American history, from 1796 during a fuel crisis. Despite generations of wood stove designs since, the 2014 Collaborative Stove Design Workshop produced a dizzying array of design options.
An Automated Stove on the Market (Video)
 See the future of wood stoves in this short video that explains how automation makes stoves more idiot proof. This stove competed in our 2013 Wood Stove Design Challenge and did very well, showing that technology can handle the key aspects of stove operation that make them too smoky in the hands of many consumers.
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AGH Projects and Activities
As Utah debates stove ban, Salt Lake County adopts stricter rules
AGH - As Utahns debate a seemingly doomed proposal to ban seasonal stove use, Utah's most populous county enacted its own rules banning stove use on both mandatory and voluntary air actions days as of Jan. 1, 2016.
Clearing the air in Utah: A wood stove compromise
 AGH - the Utah Governor's proposal to ban wintertime use of residential wood stoves started a debate on the wrong foot. AGH proposes a viable compromise that can produce real reductions in wood smoke on the Wasatch Front.
Tax software unhelpful for wood
stove tax credit
AGH - Taking that $300 tax credit for a high efficiency wood stove you bought last year? If you use tax software, it can be confusing.
What EPA leadership looks like
AGH - At a recent stove conference, the EPA showed what real leadership is like. Can they show it again at the HPBA Expo in Nashville? AGH - Too often, there is little recourse for families who live next to someone who can't or won't burn their stove or boiler responsibly. We support well-defined nuisance rules that specify opacity and local officials that enforce them.
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Washington Watch
Free course on biomass energy technologies
The DOE's Federal Energy Management Program (FEMP) and the National Institute of Building Sciences is offering a free course on how biomass energy technologies can help Federal facilities meet agency goals and legislative mandates, improve energy security, and reduce environmental impact while efficiently providing heat.
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Focus on Carbon
Study downgrades climate impact of wood burning
New research has downgraded the estimated climate impacts of the gathering and burning of wood by residents of poor and developing countries who rely on the fuel to keep warm and cook food.
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International
Canada: Montreal city council will be voting on a bylaw early this year designed to sharply reduce air pollution caused by wood smoke. Here's a Q&A about what is allowed.
Canada: Montreal is poised to pass new rules on residential wood burning fireplaces. From an environmental and health perspective, the new rules are a coup.
France: Parisians are stocking up on firewood despite a looming ban on open-hearth chimney fires, with many vowing to keep their hearths alight through the winter, even in secret if necessary.
Germany: The German pellet market is focused largely on the residential sector, while the North American pellet industry has grown rapidly in recently by targeting the European utility market.
UK: Despite its sensationalist title, this article exposes problems of using lab efficiency numbers to estimate real world efficiency. And it shows how the heat pump industry can fight back if they don't get equal incentives as biomass.
UK: A new study shows that Birmingham - and nine other UK cities - suffered an increase of up to 13 per cent in air pollution because of the stampede to buy wood-burning stoves.
States
Public turns out for hearing on air quality proposal
AK: The latest public policy proposal to solve the community's air pollution problems drew about 75 people to a public meeting.
CA: A perfect storm of factors, driven by wood smoke from chimneys, has given the San Lorenzo Valley among the worst wintertime air quality in the state. If residents can't clean up their act, tougher mandates may come in 2017.
CA: The booming popularity of outdoor kitchens among homeowners in the San Francisco Bay Area has an increasing number of their neighbors coughing and hacking from the smoke, leading air-quality officials to consider tightening rules.
ID: Idaho County Jail inmates are helping with home heating costs for the elderly this winter.
MA: If you're looking to spend a warm, cozy evening by the fireplace that may not be possible. Many firewood distributers are out of stock for months.
MA: Last winter's numbing cold created a run on firewood over the summer as New Englanders stocked up early to make sure their woodpiles were high.
MD: AGH Board member Jonathan Kays feels the millions of dollars spent on renewables can include wood and pellet heat.
MN: This ordinance would prohibit use of outdoor wood furnaces from April 15 to Sept. 15 each year. Setbacks and chimney heights were also spelled out.
NH: Residents of Cheshire County can turn in old, inefficient woodstoves for a voucher towards a new cleaner-burning stove.
NH: This promotional video covers chip and pellet boiler technology, fuel supply and sustainability, costs and savings, financing and incentives, and environmental and economic benefits.
NJ: A New Jersey mother using seasoned wood in an EPA certified stove is being sued by her neighbor, an attorney, who is trying to force her to stop heating with wood.
OR: Wood-smoke pollution at a single air-monitoring site in Hillsboro may be high enough to slap the entire metro region with a nonattainment status for federal air-quality regulations.
OR: Students in the Green House program at Southern Oregon University like to get out of the classroom and apply their knowledge in the real world, doing some good and participating in environmental sustainability and community building.
TN: When the temperatures fall, most people can turn up the heat, but others don't have that luxury. One group is hard at work each week, to help provide those in need a little relief from the cold.
UT: State regulators say banning wood-burning in winter would protect northern Utah's air from harmful pollution. The battle over that idea is about to heat up, about a year after Governor Gary Herbert announced plans to idle wood stoves in northern Utah for the entire winter.
UT: A ban on burning wood during the inversion season may upset those who enjoy a log in the fireplace on a winter's evening, but it is a necessary part of a larger campaign for cleaner air.
UT: The Salt Lake County Board of Health passed a new regulation that bans wood burning on bad air days. The step to improve Utah's air quality during inversion season is getting mixed reactions.
UT: We prohibited from running raw sewage into the ditch behind our house and from smoking cigarettes in restaurants and offices. How different should wood smoke be treated?
VA: Where there's smoke, there's not only fire but also concern. Visible smoke from your chimney means your fire isn't burning as efficiently or cleanly as it could. Wood pellet supply good, but dealers need for more mills VT: Scrounging for wood pellets to throw into your wood stove? Businesses on the front lines are doing what they can to help consumers stay warm. VT: If you use wood to heat your home and you're planning ahead for future winters, your chance at entering the state's firewood lottery ends this week.
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Upcoming Conferences and Webinars
Washington, DC, Feb 3-6, 2015
NASEO is the only national non-profit association for the governor-designated energy officials from each of the 56 states and territories.
A webinar by the Biomass Thermal Energy Council (BTEC) featuring three companies experiences in generating heat and electricity from biomass residuals.
3:30-5:30pm EST, Feb 11, 2015
A free webinar on green building and wood heating.
Lancaster, PA, February 18-21, 2015
The National Chimney Sweep Guild is accepting speaker proposals for presentations at the NCSG 2015 National Convention.
8am-5pm, EST February 19, 2015
This fully day design-focused workshop examines best practices for combining modern, high efficiency wood-fired boilers with hydronic distribution systems.
February 23-May 1, 2015
This online course teaches advanced techniques and strategies for designing and installing biomass heating systems.
Catonsville, MD, February 23, 2015
The Biomass Boot Camp is a focused one-day orientation program for those interested in learning more about the potential of renewable biomass in Maryland.
World Sustainable Energy Days
Wels, Austria, February 25-27, 2015
The World Sustainable Energy Days are one of the largest annual conferences in this field in Europe, offering a unique combination of events on sustainable energy. Wels, Austria, February 25-26, 2015
With more than 600 participants every year, the European Pellet Conference is the largest annual pellet event in the world!
Nashville, TN, March 5-7, 2015
The annual trade show for North American stove, barbecue and patio manufacturers, distributors and retailers.
Portland, ME, April 16-18, 2015
The event unites a diverse audience from the biomass sectors to break barriers and ground for biomass thermal and CHP systems.Washington, DC, June 15-16, 2015
The EIA Energy Conference has become a premier forum for addressing energy issues in the United States and worldwide.
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