Earlier this month it was National Chimney Safety Week, a gentle reminder to wood burning homeowners to have an annual inspection by a professional chimney sweep.  Cutting corners and delaying routine maintenance may lead to additional expense in the future.  Even the Greenwood Frontier or that new wood stove you got last year, that produce little emission, should have their flue or chimney inspected annually — it will keep your costs down in the long run and your house safe and warm.

The National Chimney Sweep Guild and the National Fire Protection Association both recommend that homeowners call a professional chimney sweep for an annual chimney inspection. Only a qualified professional will be able to identify and resolve maintenance issues before potential carbon monoxide intrusion and chimney fire hazards risk your time, health or money. So visit our friends at the National Chimney Sweep Guild or the Chimney Safety Institute of America to find a qualified sweep.

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Wildfire season is ablaze in the United States with fires raging from Arizona to Texas to Florida. The US Forest Service has again marshaled its resources to battle the annual outbreaks.

A lot is discussed about the devastation these fires have on property and wildlife, but little is often shared about the impact on greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. This is a bit surprising since, according to the National Center for Atmospheric Research (NCAR) and the University of California, large wildfires in the western United States can release as much carbon dioxide in a few weeks as all of the cars do in those same areas during an entire year.

All the cars? Ok, you have my attention.

NCAR puts some data behind that statement, estimating that fires in the contiguous United States and Alaska release about 290 million metric tons of carbon dioxide a year or 4 to 6 percent of the amount of the greenhouse gas that the nation releases through burning fossil fuels. In summary, forest fires can quickly release large amounts of CO2 into the atmosphere with only small amounts offset by regrowing vegetation in the period following the fire.

The environmental and economic impact of wildfires is not new to the US Forest Service. They have put a lot of energy into understanding and mitigating the impact of these wildfires, however their hands are tied since policy dictates how fuel can be removed from public forest lands.

It would seem reasonable, given the economic, environmental and energy potential of our forest lands that more support should be given for removing and utilizing this hazardous material and creating valuable forest products – lumber, wood chips & biomass – before we let it burn. So what don’t I get?

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Earlier this week, the Obama administration put a three-year hold on determining the permitting requirements for carbon dioxide emissions from biomass-fired and other biogenic sources.  The surprise delay dealt a blow to green groups’ hopes for stricter pollution controls on wood-burning incinerators, while the biomass industry breathed a sigh of relief.

Since the the initial public comment period in July, 2010, the EPA received over 7,000 comments on the emissions profile of biomass fuels and sources. The EPA sites the three-year extension as window to seek further independent scientific data analysis before rule-making.

The EPA indicated that they will issue guidance shortly that will provide a basis for state or local permitting authorities to inform their decision to use biomass as a fuel as the best available control technology for GHG emissions until the agency can complete an action.

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In a surprise move, two months after putting the regulation on hold, the NY DEC approved stricter regulations for new outdoor wood boilers effective April 15th, 2011.

Like many other northeastern states, New York follows the format of much of the EPA voluntary OWHH standard — this includes: emission performance, wood boiler stack height, approved fuels, and setbacks (from adjacent buildings). In addition there are labeling, consumer education, and reporting requirements for manufacturers and wood furnace dealers.

A unique twist introduced in the regulation is the designation of a residential wood boiler and a commercial wood boiler — with a wood furnace that is rated below 250,000 BTU/hr classified as a residential system. The regulations for commercial systems (> 250,000 BTU/hr) may not be installed for residential use and include greater installation requirements.

It is unclear at this point in time how this commercial aspect of this regulation relates to other existing commercial biomass boiler regulations. However one thing is clear, with the many interested parties on this topic, there will be additional news on New York’s new outdoor wood boiler regulations.

Details of the regulation are available on the DEC website.

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According to the New York Times, the U.S. EPA is modifying their ruling on industrial boilers.

Having taken comment on controversial new regulations for industrial boilers and citing opposition from business leaders and lawmakers, the U.S. EPA now believes that some pollution limits in the draft rules “were simply too tight to be able to be achievable,” said the agency’s air chief Gina McCarthy.

This signals that the agency is planning to scale back proposed boiler regulations now that the pubic comment period has ended. The proposed rules were seen as prohibitively expensive and thus unlikely to be achieved and so the U.S. EPA is readying regulations that won’t be as tough on businesses.

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“The giant oil companies, when left to their own devices, will treat even the most magnificent of nature’s wonders like a sewer,” writes Bob Herbert in his New York Times editorial “Disaster in the Amazon.”He concludes, “The riches to be made are so vastly corrupting, that governments refuse to impose the kinds of oversight and safeguards that would mitigate the damage to the environment and its human and animal inhabitants.”

It strikes me that this characterization holds an underlying truth about energy production in general, including green technologies – not even solar power is exempt. Over the past five years, the price surge for polysilicon–the building block for the sunlight capturing wafers used in solar power–led to catastrophic environmental impacts at production sites in China, the largest supplier of solar panels to North America and the world. As this situation illustrates, without life-cycle transparency ‘clean energy’ can be very dirty.

With transparency, significant gains over traditional fuels can be achieved. An insightful study, Emissions from Solar Photovoltaic Life Cycles,led by the Department of Energy’s Brookhaven National Laboratory found that, when well regulated, producing electricity from solar cells reduces air pollutants by up to 90 percent in comparison to using conventional fossil fuel technologies.

If you live in the State of Massachusetts and you were looking to buy a traditional (low efficiency) wood boiler, you are now out of luck.

As of December 26th, residents may only purchase EPA Phase 2 qualified wood boilers (like the Greenwood Aspen Series). The Massachusetts Department of Environmental Protection (MassDEP) issued the regulation to protect air quality in neighborhoods across the Commonwealth by limiting the amount of pollution emitted by outdoor wood-fired boilers, also known as outdoor hydronic heaters.

To read the announcement click here. To review the regulation go here.

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The outdoor wood boiler (outdoor wood-fired furnace) good versus bad conversation continues to heat up. Just to make sure everyone sees Greenwood in the right light, we have the good products. Greenwood only makes clean burning wood boilers. In fact, as of the date of this post, we have the cleanest indoor and outdoor wood boilers as determined by the EPA. Sorry, no dirty-burning devices for us.

Greenwood Technologies outdoor wood boilers are designated by the EPA with an Orange Tag because of their low emission status. The Greenwood Aspen 175 and Greenwood Furnace Model 100 are certified for outdoor installation in the State of Vermont.  This is good news for clean burning wood boilers and wood-fired furnaces.  Read more about the debate in a NY Times article that posted on 9/19.

http://www.amny.com/news/local/wire/newyork/ny-bc-ny–outdoorfurnaces0919sep19,0,7542616.story

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