NH Legislators to introduce two bills re: OWB's

I received our copy of " The communicator " , the publication from the NH Farm Bureau.

Two Bills will be filed for the 2008 Legislature, one to regulate OWB and the other to ban their use in NH.

I am very troubled by this announcement and will certainly attend the public sessions to state the case for responsible and continued use of the OWB .

Without harping over more government interference , it may be time to start looking at other
" approved " ( no matter how the political wind blows ) options. I'm big on having back up plans.

I need a wood furnace , hot water, outdoor setting, in the 500kBtu + range. AND we need something that will consume the waste wood generated by our firewood operation.

What's out there for me?

I am hoping that Eric chimes in. He has access to a lot of the new tech's, and old well established companies. Gasifiers certainly are not new in the lumber/ logging industry. But the trick is to find a model between the home owner size and full industrial mega-boiler. He has been in the game for awhile and might be able to point the way.

Craig also has some new facts about OWB emissions and the info would be helpful.

Thanks for the help, guys !

Hbbyloggr

I doubt very much that an out right ban on the OWB would pass, but I suspect that they would offer " guide lines" for the towns to follow, such as , distance from property lines, stack height, population density, time of year requirements and the like,making it very difficult to install anything at all. If they require EPA certification, then watch out , even the indoor stoves will be at risk.

It really fries my ashcan when oil prices are so stinkin' high that they have to attack alternate energy supplies. Heck, all of my domestic and business heating needs including hot water are tied to wood as fuel. I have not used any # 2 heating oil since 1989 and now they say they have to legislate me ?

Eric, Thanks for the leads. I'm going to start the search. I'll be at the NEFExpo in Vermont this coming spring to see what they have to offer. I looked at the AHS sawdust burner, but the reviews seem a little off. I'm sure there will be enough time to do plenty of research. Trends drive me crazy. I thought I was at the top of the game when I got my first whole tree chipper in 1980, only to have PSNH buy out the contracts from our wood fired power plants. Bio Energy , my main buyer, sold out and that put me out of business.
As Nofossil put it, " Fight the good fight" . Damned, here we go again.

Hbbyloggr

Eric Johnson said:

I'm trying to get some more gasifiers at the show. I had high hopes for Black Bear, but they're out of business. Adobe, maybe. Blue Forge would be nice, too. We do get Aquatherm and a bunch of OWB guys like Taylor and CB, and last time in Essex Jct. there was a pretty cool looking indoor unit with a glass front and a pretty strange (Euro) piping arrangement. We get some of the biggies like ChipTec, too. The thing about loggers and sawmills is that they have access to a lot of free or cheap, green wood, so they're a pretty logical market for traditional OWBs. But almost everybody I talk to these days seems concerned about the air pollution issue, and as the cleaner-burning technology becomes more widespread--like it seems to be doing--then I think people will make the switch when it comes time to replace the old smoke dragon.

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Amen to that. I saw the Blue Forge advertised in the" Farm Show" magazine I think before Cozyburn picked up the line. It looks rugged enough to hold the QEII .

The manufacturers must really be scrambling to get something made that will pass inspection and new regulations. Let's hope they do a good job of it this time around.

Do you think anyone is going to pick up the pieces from the Black Bear ? They seemed pretty innovative and it's too bad that they had to fold.