Green Heat News
A monthly news service for everyone
interested in renewable wood & pellet heating
November 2022
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Wood Heat Design Challenge
Finalists
selected for Wood Heater Challenge
The DOE announced three finalists from the Technology Slam – Davidon Industries, Kleiss Engineering and Aprovecho Research Lab. Those three stoves will be tested at Brookhaven Lab
in the winter and spring of 2023 and the top stoves will receive first place prize!
Watch
a 10-minute summary of the Slam
We did a highlight reel condensing the 2-hour Wood Heater Technology Slam to 10-minutes. See the highlights of all 9 teams who competed.
Firewood banks
AGH
now accepting applications from wood banks
With $590,000 to give in grants, AGH has received applications from 10 wood banks in the first two weeks, adding up to $120,000. Applications are being processed on a rolling basis. To
receive funding, firewood banks must agree to certain safety protocols, such as using chainsaw chaps.
Meet
AGH’s new Grant Managers
Pam Porter and Leroy Wandahsega (with niece) are now processing grants for firewood banks. Pam lives in Madison, WI and previously worked for the state of Wisconsin on climate issues
and with the Biomass Energy Resource Center (BERC). Leroy previously worked for his Potowami tribal council and has managed various grants and lives in Michigan’s Upper Pennisula.
UMaine
awarded Forest Service grant for National Wood Bank project
UMaine and UMass Amherst received funding to support wood banks by hosting a national wood bank virtual summit, creating educational webinars for wood banks and doing a survey of
wood banks. AGH will be working closely with them on these projects which will help inform our grant giving.
Study
shows how firewood banks support fuel-poor households
Firewood banks provide no-cost, local firewood to fuel-poor households, but little is known about
key details such as where they are operating, who is accessing them, and why. Qualitative analysis identified four explanations for household fuel poverty preceding accessing a wood bank: economic poverty, health-related challenges, old age, and emergency
need. https://tinyurl.com/firewoodbank
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IRS
requests comments on stove tax credit
AGH urges stakeholders to tell the IRS to recognize the EPA’s database of certified wood heaters to determine if a stove is 75% efficient or higher. This is the first time IRS has
formally asked our community about eligibility criteria for the tax credit. Using the efficiencies on the EPA database creates a level playing field for manufacturers and certainty and transparency for consumers.
Consumer alert: check EPA database for efficiencies
Stove manufacturers still use different ways of reporting efficiency for purposes of the tax credit. Most use the standard HHV EPA’s
database certified stoves, including major US manufacturers. Others use more arcane methods which are not
transparent to the consumer for non-cat stoves which can be as low as 70 or 71% efficiency on the EPA list.
Do
standards for heat pump tax credits hurt adoption?
With heat pumps – and wood and pellet stoves – there is always a debate at how strict eligibility for the tax credit should be. Congressional language is sometimes not 100% clear,
leading to loopholes that can get bigger and bigger. But with each appliance, the issues and goals may be different.
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State News
Town
starts innovative firewood program
Illinois: The wood consists of oak harvested from fallen tress in local parks and natural
areas. Buyers are responsible for loading and hauling wood from the town maintenance building.
Missouri
extends wood energy tax credit program
Missouri: Missouri
Gov. Mike Parson on Oct. 5 signed House Bill 3. The legislation, in part, retroactively extends the state’s wood energy tax credit program from June 30, 2020, through June 30, 2028.
NJ
requires Master Hearth Specialist license
New Jersey: NJ is establishing
a Master Hearth Specialists Advisory Committee under the Division of Consumer Affairs to enforce their new license for hearth product installers.
What
you need to know about buying, transporting firewood as winter approaches
Michigan: It’s always good to know what you are actually burning when it comes to wood.
After a tree has been cut down, the new logs can sometimes be the host of harmful insects that you wouldn’t want to bring into your home.
While
home-heating fuel prices surge, demand for firewood causes new challenges
Vermont: As home-heating fuel prices surge, the state’s firewood sellers and wood stove
installers say they’re struggling to keep up as more Vermonters turn to wood heat. .
International
European
Parliament to continue to recognize woody biomass as a renewable energy source
Germany: The
German government is laying the foundations for the sustainable use of biomass from forestry, agriculture and waste management.
Italy:
Italians consistently buy more each year than Americans and Canadians combined with 1/6 the population. They also take regulations seriously: five Italian regions – Lombardy,
Veneto, Piedmont, Emilia-Romagna and Tuscany – currently have laws banning residents from using low-efficiency fireplaces and wood stoves, and the rules are being enforced.
From
coal to heat pumps:Poland’s energy transition
Poland:
Can Poland skip from coal stoves to heat pumps, bypassing wood stoves? 46% of homes are heated with coal and a scant 4% use wood and pellets.
Official:
rural homes should install stoves, ignore urban environmentalists
UK:
A government official urging people in rural areas to buy wood stoves. He supports restrictions in urban areas, “but people in rural areas, where air quality is not an issue,
need no lessons from urban environmentalists about burning wood.”
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Best of Facebook
How many of you have
dried
your wood this way or on top of your stove? While it may help slightly, it is far more dangerous than any benefit.
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Upper
Midwest Home Performance Conference & Trade Show
Minneapolis, Minnesota, November 7-8, 2022
Two days of region-specific education, networking opportunities, and more.
International
trade fair for fireplaces
Leipzig, Germany, April 18-20, 2023
A network-hub, the “World of Fireplaces” also includes many wood heaters.
National
Home Performance Conference
Seattle, Washington, April 17-20, 2023
This event brings together contractors, weatherization professionals, trainers, program administrators, energy auditors, and others for the latest developments in the industry.
World
Sustainable Energy Days
Wels, Austria, February 28 – March 1, 2023
“2023: Energy Transition = Energy security!”
European
Pellet Conference
Wels, Austria, March 1, 2023
“2023: Pellets = Energy security!”
HBPA
Expo
Louisville, Kentucky, March 11-13, 2023
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Misleading Article of the Month
“Heat
pumps don’t burn fossil fuels”
CNET, a reputable news outlet, doesn’t understand the basics of technology they report on. Numerous of their articles say things like “Heat pumps don’t burn fossil fuel” and “Electrifying
a house means swapping out fossil fuel-burning appliances for ones that run on electricity.” Most grids have less than 20% renewables on them. The benefit of heat pumps is not that they use renewable energy but that they use any kind of energy more efficiently.
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Please support our work and keep this newsletter free of charge
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Thank you to everyone who donated to AGH during 2021! Your support makes
a huge difference and helps to keep this newsletter a free source of information for everyone. 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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