Sustainable Bioenergy, Farms, and Forests - November 16, 2018

Editors’ Note

While not covered in today’s newsletter we would be remiss to not mention the tragic wildfires currently affecting California. This includes the Camp Fire, only 40 percent contained, and now the deadliest and most destructive wildfire in state history.  Our thoughts are with those who have lost or are missing loved ones, and the thousands who lost everything, as well as the firefighters who put their lives on the line to protect communities from these mega-blazes.  

While it’s thought that a Pacific Gas & Electric utility line started the deadly Camp Fire, scientists predict that climate change is going to make these catastrophic wildfires even worse in the coming decades. Early indicators suggest that the Camp Fire was the result of a deadly combination of ultra-dry conditions, built up biomass, and in the case of PG&E, human error, in the wildland-urban interface.

In addition to drastic climate mitigation efforts to lessen the potential for these mega-fires, this new normal in wildfires will require new collaborative approaches to make forests more climate-adapted, including forest thinning and controlled burns, as well as improving the resilience of communities in the wildland-urban interface.  The challenge is extremely daunting – but necessary.

Today’s story on the 2018 Wood Stove Design Challenge explores how wood utilization for heat and power is an approach that addresses multiple forest and community needs. In this case, highly efficient, clean burning, and inexpensively fueled wood stoves bring renewable heat and power to households, particularly in rural communities.  Wood stoves can utilize wood waste, helping to create markets for forest restoration projects, keep heating dollars local and help reduce fossil fuel consumption.  Wood stoves certainly aren’t the solution to the root causes of deadly wildfires, but they’re part of the solution.

 

 

Technology Advancements & Renewable Power Showcased at Wood Stove Design Challenge

Wood stoves are not generally considered to be at the cutting-edge of renewable energy technology, but they remain a major part of the household energy landscape, particularly in rural communities. The Energy Information Administration reports that 12.7 million homes rely on wood for primary and secondary heating in the United States, and this includes 30 to 60 percent of homes in hundreds of rural counties, according to the Alliance for Green Heat.  The recently concluded Wood Stove Design Challenge (November 9 – 13) showed how wood stoves can indeed provide renewable, clean, and affordable heat – and energy – in homes.

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