July 2016
Green Heat News
Issue No. 83

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Price of Oil

June 27, 2016: $45.80

May 27, 2015: $59.41

  

Source:www.ycharts.com  

Top stories in past issues
Office Equipment Needed

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: info@forgreenheat.org 
AGH Projects & Activities
 
A readable list of the wood and pellet stoves with actual efficiencies. Six of the bottom 10, tested at 58-67% efficiency HHV, are pellet stoves.

  
Stove Innovation
   
Startup of the week: MF Fire
University of the Maryland-based startup MF Fire's low-emission wood burning stove "The Catalyst" is in the process of getting its final regulatory approval before hitting the proverbial shelves in the fall. The company plans to distribute directly and are taking pre-orders.  
 
The heat exchanger heats water in homes where solar energy isn't an option or other energy sources are unavailable or expensive.
 
Focus on NSPS
 
Violations of the NSPS can be reported to Raphael Sanchez, (Sanchez.Rafael@epa.gov) EPA Office of Compliance. Many members of the wood and pellet stove and boiler industry contact him often, because a competitor is bending or ignoring the rules. The Alliance for Green Heat also supports clarity and transparency so that all manufacturers and retailers play by the same rules. In addition to reporting potential violations to Raphael Sanchez, the EPA has a website where violations can be reported: https://www.epa.gov/enforcement/report-environmental-violations 
 
Focus on Cookstoves
 
Coming from someone who used to design rocket engines, I'll tell you that burning wood, as simple as it sounds, is one of the most advanced technologies I've ever worked on. 
 

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From the Newsroom     
 
International
Australia: Eight people have been charged $607 each after breaking firewood collection laws in state forests and regional parks in Central Victoria over the past few weeks.

Canada: The Canadian stove industry association said that the Ontario plan to fight climate change will include funding for swapping out old wood stoves with new ones.

Canada: Ontario's Climate Action plan may not have much for biomass, but Ontario has many pellet production plants.  The bulk delivery system needs to be developed, however.  Overall, Canada has about 40 pellet plants that make about 3 million tons of pellets, with 1.2 million tons exported to Europe.

Chile: Poor people all over the world use wood for cooking and heating. Professor Kirk Smith says that if we are going to require stoves to be really clean, there would have to be subsidies or low interest loans.

Europe: The economic case for wood heating in a four minute video: "Wood creates jobs. The foresters, loggers, mechanics, heating plant operators, and employees working in the region also spend their money in the region."

UK: The British stove industry announced that by 2020 the "main" manufacturers will be manufacturing only wood burning stoves that meet the new EcoDesign criteria, two years ahead of schedule. Stricter European emission standards will apply to all UK manufacturers in 2022. (But with the Brexit vote, European stove standards may not apply.)

National 
 
Charles Koch, the libertarian billionaire funder of fossil fuel advocacy, is finding common ground with those who oppose using wood pellets to make electricity. He opposes "corporate welfare" for wood pellet exports to Europe, along with subsidies for other renewables. 

The PFI standards program is a third-party accreditation program providing specifications for residential and commercial-grade pellet fuel, now representing 13 pellet manufacturing companies, among them 22 facilities. 
 
States

MD: A neighborhood with lots of pellet and corn stoves tied for first in an energy efficiency challenge. The point system did not give credit for wood stoves, but it did give pellet or corn stoves as many points as solar panels.  
 
MT: This changeout program spent $77,720 for 23 woodstoves and their installation. That comes to $3,379 per stove (the program covered the entire cost of the stove and installation).  
 
NB: The NFS and its Forest Products Utilization program is dedicated to addressing common barriers associated with the development of woody biomass utilization markets. 
 
OR: When air pollution gets out of control, federal restrictions kick in.

TN: With summer's first weekend underway, Tennessee State Park officials are warning campers and folks with plans for campfires to use only heat-treated firewood or wood collected nearby. 

VT: Approximately one in 17 workers, or 6% of Vermont's workforce, is in clean energy. This is more than any other state, per capita.

Upcoming Conferences and Webinars

Asheville, NC, July 24-26, 2016 
The PFI Annual Conference highlights the various applications of densified biomass.

Antique Stove Association Annual Show and Conference 
Save the date: Brainerd, MN, August 14-16, 2016   $100 registration (including brunch and a dinner cruise). Questions? 218-828-1981.
International Training Seminar Biomass Heating
Linz, Austria, September 12-15, 2016
The seminar offers interactive learning in an international group, educational site-visits and presentations by experts in biomass technologies, market development and environment. 
 
Escanaba, MI, October 11-13, 2016 
Program, registration and sponsorship/vendor details forthcoming.

Various locations, October 19, 2016
Participating organizations will open their doors to their communities to demonstrate the benefits bioenergy provides on a local level.  

Baltimore, MD, November 10-12, 2016
The Tree Care Industry Association Expo is the world's largest largest tree care show and conference.  
 

 
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Thanks
to ...
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.
 
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A special thanks to those who have contributed $2,000 or more since Jan. 1, 2013

-- Arbolito Foundation 
-- Chimney Safety Institute of America 
-- Global Alliance for Clean Cookstoves
-- New York State Energy & Research Development Authority
-- Osprey Foundation
-- Jim & Patty Rouse Foundation 
-- Schott-Robax
-- Victoria Sujata
-- University of Maryland Extension Service  
-- DC Dept. of Transportation, Urban Forestry Administration
-- U.S. Forest Service
-- West Penn Power Energy & Sustainability Fund

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