The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the State of Vermont have been leading the charge to reduce the emissions on outdoor wood boilers, so it makes good sense that they chose Waterbury, VT to announce the EPA Phase II voluntary program. We were on the grounds of the Vermont Department of Environmental Conservation with a number of other manufacturers (including Hardy and Northwest Manufacturing) to support the EPA announcement on cleaner outdoor wood heaters.

Phil Etter (VT DEC)

Gil Wood (EPA)

There was also a lot of press at the event – take a listen to what Vermont Public Radio has to say about the event.

Greenwood in the News

This past week we were in Vermont for the EPA’s announcement of the Phase II Hydronic Heater Program. After you get past the name (which is a general term that refers to pellet, corn and wood boilers) you might ask  yourself what is so significant about this program?

First, as a consumer it means that there will be able to identify cleaner wood and biomass products from other dirtier products. The cleaner products carry a White Tag rather than the Orange Tag (from the Phase I program). These new units are 90% cleaner than traditional wood boilers rather than 70% cleaner than those that complied with the Phase I standards. Some products (like the Greenwood Aspen Series) qualified for both Phase I and Phase II. 

The second distinction is that it places all residential biomass heating appliances in the same category. This is similar to a fuel mileage rating system for automobiles where SUVs and hybrids gas mileage can be compared. In the case of wood boilers, the rating provides you an understanding of what type of output you get based on your fuel preference or installation location. Indoor and outdoor products as well as pellet, corn and log wood fuels are all on the same scale. As a consumer you have more information in which to make your decision.

Expect to hear a lot more about the White Tag or for more information head to the EPA site.

With fuel prices where they are these days, there is a lot of talk about domestically available options. One type of fuel that is central to the debate is biofuel. You may recognize them by their other names - ethanol, biodiesel, biocrude, methanol and methane to name a few.

Don’t freak out on me, this is not your high school chemistry class, but there are some big questions that arise that are still under debate and as consumers of the product/byproduct it is important that we understand what is being discussed.

Central to the biofuel discussion are two fundamental debates:

1. Energy and Food Supply. Early biofuel supplies were built using a corn and other food supply feedstocks. Should energy products compete with the food supply?
2. Energy Conversion. Biofuels are created from organic material (e.g. corn, switchgrass & crop residues). What amount of energy is required to create the fuel from these feedstocks? If the amount of energy required to produce the fuel is less than the output from the resulting fuel, is it worthwhile? The conversation is a bit heated.

These are not simple questions. However, their answers are arguably simple - each resource should be used to provide its greatest return. In the questions we ask above — I would argue that food supply should remain as food supply. We can use the crop residue for energy. As far as energy conversion, I don’t need to look any further than modern biomass heating options with efficiencies greater than 70% (per US standards). Until the economics or science indicate otherwise perhaps we should be selective in our choice of the feedstocks for biofuels.

As someone who has made it this far, implies some level of interest, so I encourage you to take a look at this resource from Farm Credit of Canada that provides an overview on the biofuel discussion.

Maine residents pay attention!

Finally someone has figured out how to provide meaningful financial help to those families who are in a tight spot this winter due to the high costs of heating fuel. The folks up in Maine are leading the US in providing an innovative loan program for qualified homeowners.

MaineHousing’s Home Energy Loan Program offers loans at a low fixed rate of only 3.95% (4.194% APR) for home improvements that increase home energy efficiency.

This program is more than a band-aid. For those that participate, it will provide long-term relief from energy costs. Our hats are off to Maine State Housing Authority.