260 likes | 265 Views
Join us at the Masonry Heater Association Annual Meeting on April 18, 2012, where John Ackerly, President of the Alliance for Green Heat, will discuss the strange history of wood heating in the US and the Alliance's goals for a cleaner and more efficient wood heat industry.
E N D
Masonry Heater AssociationAnnual MeetingApril 18, 2012 John Ackerly, President Masonry Stoves and the Strange History of Wood Heating in the US
* Alliance for Green Heat is a 501c3 non-profit based.* We have a staff of 3 & were founded in 2009* Our budget is $100,000 a year, raised from foundations, donations and US government grants.* We believe in progress.
Alliance for Green Heat Goals • Voice for wood heat consumers in Wash. DC • Recognition of cleanest wood heaters • Parity in government incentives with solar (rebates & tax credits) • R &D funding for “next generation” stoves • More regulation of wood burning • No new installs of unqualified outdoor boilers • No new installs of uncertified stoves in urban areas
Euro track: Hot, quick fires Masonry Pellet Wood boiler w/ thermal storage US track: Slow, smoldering fires Outdoor wood boiler 1970s Air- tight stove Fireplace Franklin stove
How we like to think of technological progress 100% Masonry Heater Pellet Stove Cat Stove Efficiency 50% Fireplace 0% Time
Technological Progress in the US is not always upward 80% Masonry Heater Jamb Stove Efficiency Five Plate Closed Iron Stove 50% Franklin Stove Outdoor Wood Boiler 0% 2000 1600 1700 1800 1900 Time
What Did Ben Franklin Invent? • In 1741, Ben Franklin assembled a stove far less efficient and dirtier than many other stoves on the market. It is still hailed as a tremendous advance in wood burning. • It undermined the deployment and development of far more efficient stove designs. • Why? Anglo culture, led by scores of opinion leaders, believed an open fire was more civilized than the closed “Germanic” stoves.
From Fireplace to Cookstove: Technology and the Domestic Ideal in America, by Priscilla Brewer (2000) A fascinating look at how culture, gender & class shaped wood Stoves.
Troy, NY: World Center of Stove Factories, 1830. Nearly 200 wood stove factories in Troy, alone.
Technology Competitions Through Time driven by wood scarcity, oil prices & climate change
2010: Wood overtakes propane and oil as 3rd most common heating fuel
Top 10 States with Fastest Growing Wood Heat Households Michigan
Transforming Wood Heat in America: A Toolkit of Policy Options Fossil Fuel Reduction of a $2,000 Wood/Pellet Stove = Fossil Fuel Reduction of a $20,000 Solar PV • Both systems can displace equal amounts of carbon from fossil fuel: 3 tons. • 1 kw solar system, 1 cord of wood or 1 ton of pellets all displace about 1 ton of carbon from fossil fuels. Full report available at: www.forgreenheat.org/resources/toolkit.html
Transforming Wood Heat in America: A Toolkit of Policy Options Wood Stoves vs. Solar PV & the Prius( or, why incentives to the rich are inefficient) Full report available at: www.forgreenheat.org/resources/toolkit.html
The Way Forward • Embracing Government 1. Regulation. At least factory built masonry heaters need to have an EPA certification program. 2. Standards: ASTM 3. Incentive programs. Masonry heaters need to be included and listed. You need to demand inclusion.
Incentive Programs • PACEPrograms. Property Assessed Clean Energy Loans. These programs are coming back and masonry stoves need to get recognized. Whoever owns the home pays off the loan. • On Bill Financing (OBF). Pay off loan thru utility bill. Longer term and more complex for heating systems. • Home Star. Did not pass, but details still circulating as a model for other programs. AGH got wood heaters included. • HUDPower Saver Loans. 4.99% loans. Wood is now included. • LIHEAP. States wondering if they can get folks off oil & onto wood. Currently, system is locked into most expensive fuels. States – Precedence, Recognition, Education • Oregon’s $300 tax credit • Montana $1,000 tax credit • Idaho $5,000 tax deduction (w/ trade in of old wood stove)
Future? 1. Combining biomass thermal storage with solar thermal. 2. Mini residential CHP units. 3. Real time digital display of emissions/efficiency. 3. Making electricity just to recharge a cell phone or light a room.
Technology competition modeled on Solar Decathlon to see who can build cleanest more efficient stove. • Stoves should be idiot-proof and mitigate the problems associated with unseasoned wood. • Designs are submitted by Dec. 20. • Finalists bring their stove to • Washington DC to compete on mall. • Stoves judged on efficiency, • emissions, cost, innovation and • marketability.
Judges Judges • James Meigs, Editor in Chief, Popular Mechanics Magazine • Rod Tinnemore, Washington Dept. of Ecology • NYSERDA representative • Bill Clarke, Osprey Foundation • Ray Albrecht, BTEC Board, former NYSERDA staff Invited Judges • Dr. Thomas Butcher, Brookhaven National Lab • EPA representative
Goals: • To challenge perceptions of policymakers and public about their image of wood heat • Challenge wood heater industry’s image about who we are and where we can go. • Build expectations and demand for really clean, efficient heaters. • Recognize and publicize cleanest heaters.
Thank you! www.forgreenheat.org john@forgreenheat.org 301-841-7755