Hearth, Patio and Barbecue Association Searches
October 31, 2006
Outdoor Furnace Bans and Popularity
Millinocket OKs wood boiler restrictions
Bangor Daily News (Maine)
October 28, 2006
Nick Sambisides Jr.
Clean Burn: Black Bear Boilers makes a low-emission, wood-fired system the market
seems ready for. Now the firm must create a distribution network and ramp up production
to supply it. No small feat.
Portland Press Herald (Maine)
October 29, 2006
Tux Turkel
Alternative Heating Trends
Warm Up: How to heat your house—not the outside.
Slate.com
October 30, 2006
Meaghan O'Neill and treehugger.com
GenPower biomass plan appears dead
Morning Sentinel/mainetoday.com (Waterville, ME)
October 31, 2006
Larry Grard
Millinocket OKs wood boiler restrictions
Bangor Daily News (Maine)
October 28, 2006
Nick Sambisides Jr.
MILLINOCKET
Residents have 60 days to register their outdoor wood-fired boilers with the town under a
new ordinance that bans the smokiest of the home heating units, town officials said
Friday.
Unless it is appealed in court, the ordinance - which is probably the state's first - goes into
effect on Nov. 26. All residents who own boilers will need to seek permits with town
Code Enforcement Officer Michael Noble within 30 days of that date or cease burning,
the ordinance states.
Under the ordinance, boilers must be at least 50 feet from a neighboring home, be rated to
burn no more than 27.4 grams of particulate matter per 100,000 Btu per hour, and be at
least 24 inches above the roof line of the closest neighboring home.
Citing health concerns, the Town Council voted 6-0 to implement the ordinance
Thursday. Councilor Jimmy Busque was absent.
Councilors complimented Councilor Scott Gonya for his work incorporating many
changes into the final document through three public hearings and several meetings.
"This is an important ordinance that the council is passing," Councilor Matthew Polstein
said Thursday. "The town is setting a good precedent for the rest of the state."
"I am very happy with how it worked," Gonya said. "The council did a lot of hard work
on this."
Gonya proposed the ban in August, saying several Penobscot Avenue residents live near
a resident whose boiler emits so much smoke that a smoky odor has infiltrated their
homes. Penobscot Avenue residents have been complaining about the boiler since 2000
or 2001, Gonya said, but he didn't know how local governments could stop their use. It
wasn't until the American Lung Association came out against such boilers in June that he
was inspired to seek a ban, he said.
Town Manager Eugene Conlogue estimated that there are six boilers in town.
Most outdoor boilers are polluters, producing 100 to 400 grams of particulate waste an
hour. By comparison, most wood-fired stoves today produce about 7.5 grams an hour.
Retailing at $7,500 each, the Black Bear boiler made in East Millinocket is UL- and
CSA-certified and recently passed weighted-average emissions tests that showed that the
boiler burned 6.6 grams an hour.
Municipalities in Massachusetts, New Jersey and New York have banned outdoor woodfired boilers because they are such polluters. East Millinocket is among state
municipalities considering a ban.
Under the ordinance, new boiler owners must pay a $50 permitting fee, but the council
waived the fee for people who own boilers now. The owner of a boiler in violation of the
ordinance shall be fined $100 a day but not more than $1,000 in accumulated fines.
Permits shall be suspended for malodorous air contamination caused by boilers burning
nonpermitted materials, or by the improper operation of a boiler. Anyone who knows of a
potentially offending boiler in Millinocket can call Noble at 723-7005.
Clean Burn: Black Bear Boilers makes a low-emission, wood-fired system the
market seems ready for. Now the firm must create a distribution network and ramp
up production to supply it. No small feat.
Portland Press Herald (Maine)
October 29, 2006
Tux Turkel
For Dominic Federico and Jeff Baker, a 27 year-old inspiration is blossoming into reality,
just in time.
Maybe it's a timely enough idea to grow a sustainable business in this papermaking
community, where thousands of manufacturing jobs have disappeared and people who
can build things with their hands are searching for a future.
Federico and Baker are the principals behind Clean Wood Heat LLC, makers of the
Black Bear Boiler. It's a high-efficiency central heating system that uses innovative
technology to squeeze more warmth from each log, without coughing up a lot of air
pollution. The pair began production this year in a small industrial park here. They have
sold 50 units so far and can't keep up with demand.
A native of East Millinocket, Federico was working at his dad's heating business in 1979,
installing old-style, smoky wood boilers, when he came up with a better design. But he
never had a way to test his idea, until he hooked up last year with Baker.
Owner of Universal Welding Co. here, Baker makes a living fabricating steel. Together
the men built a prototype boiler that draws down combustion gases and injects air to
reignite them at temperatures approaching 2,000 degrees. This process, called wood
gasification, produces a flame that looks like it's shooting out of an oil burner. It's a
feature that is of increasing interest now, as early autumn snows hint at the long heating
season ahead.
Petroleum prices may be falling, but most people who heat with oil realize a terrorist
attack or supply interruption could send their bills soaring again. At the same time,
governments are clamping down on the smoky emissions from wood boilers, especially
freestanding, outdoors units. Many towns around the country, including neighboring
Millinocket, are considering ordinances to regulate the pollution.
These developments are good news for Black Bear Boilers. The oil shock has a new wave
of homeowners and small businesses switching to wood heat. If they buy a Black Bear
Boiler, they shouldn't have neighbors complaining about smoke and soot. The boiler is
expected to exceed upcoming federal pollution guidelines, and it can be installed indoors
or outside.
The company now has 16 workers in Baker's shop. To meet expected demand, it's
planning to hire up to 40 workers by next summer, run extra shifts and eventually expand
the building.
By 2009, Federico and Baker hope to be making 2,000 boilers a year with more than 100
employees. They also pay competitive wages for the area - up to $17.50 an hour, plus
benefits.
This all sounds very promising for Clean Wood Heat and the Millinocket area, but there
are challenges.
Some established wood boiler makers also have refined the gasification process. They
will be competing with Black Bear Boilers for customers.
Money, too, is always an issue for a new business, and Clean Wood Heat is at a
threshold. Aided by a few small investors and a state grant, Federico and Baker have
financed most of the $300,000 start-up costs out of their own pockets. Now they're
preparing to take their business plan to banks, looking for $200,000 or so to build an
assembly line and buy materials. They need to ramp up now to meet anticipated demand
for boilers during next year's heating season.
Anyone who has heated with wood will appreciate some key features of the Black Bear
Boiler.
Wood can be hard to light, and once it's burning, hard to control. The Black Bear Boiler
uses a blower to ignite wood gases. They burn at very high temperatures, passing over a
heat exchanger to warm water and feed baseboards in the house. The firebox is
surrounded by a massive ceramic refractory that also slowly absorbs heat.
Turning off the blower removes oxygen from the unit,<b> </b>and the fire instantly goes
out. But the refractory remains extremely hot for up to 48 hours, and the fire will reignite
when the blower flips on again.
Federico showed off the process last week outside the shop, using a demonstration boiler
the company has set up in a trailer. Breezes tugged a wispy plume from the chimney pipe
as he turned the boiler on and off, but very little smoke appeared.
The company has applied for a patent for parts of its technology. The refinements give
the boiler an overall efficiency in the 85 percent range, Federico said, releasing only a
very small concentration of particles into the air.
This performance is important. Lab testing has shown that the boiler's emissions are clean
enough to exceed new, voluntary guidelines for outdoor boilers that are being developed
by the federal Environmental Protection Agency. That recognition should be a big selling
point for the unit.
Federico and Baker are clearly excited about their product, but they could only go so far
selling boilers out of their shop. To reach a wide market, they need to grow a network of
dealers who share their enthusiasm. That's beginning to take shape: Black Bear Boilers
has seven dealers in Maine and one in Vermont.
Brian Newman hooked up a boiler inside the new shop he just built in Lubec. The owner
of Zebco Plumbing & Heating Co., he's using it for a radiant heat floor.
''The thing is producing a blue flame with green wood; it's amazing,'' he said.
The current Black Bear Boiler model retails for $7,500 plus installation. It's sized to
warm an average house and will provide the heat equivalent of 1,000 gallons of oil with
roughly six cords of hardwood, the company estimates.
Newman has sold three boilers and has numerous requests for quotes.
''There's just a constant flow of people inquiring,'' he said. ''There's quite a buzz about it.''
The boiler's potential also is exciting for Bruce McLean, executive director of the
Millinocket Area Growth & Investment Council. He helped the company develop its
business plan and apply for a $10,000 start-up technology grant.
Sustainable growth at Clean Wood Heat would be welcome in the Millinocket area. The
jobless rate is in the 10 percent range, roughly twice the state average. That's the legacy
of shutdowns and subsequent cuts at the area's two paper mills, which once had a
combined work force of more than 4,000. Today the two plants employ roughly 600,
McLean said.
With paper making contracting, the Millinocket region is searching for ways to diversify
its economy. Recreational tourism, tied to nearby Baxter State Park, is one answer. But
Clean Wood Heat can help fill the void with manufacturing jobs, which are a highly
valued part of the region's heritage, according to Tom Gallant, director of the Maine
Small Business Development Center in Bangor.
''Millinocket is trying to go from being a paper-mill town to a town with a paper mill,'' he
said.
Gallant has met with Federico and Baker. Many entrepreneurs, he said, know how to
build something, but haven't figured out how to sell it. The Black Bear Boiler already has
ready buyers, and high energy costs and clean air concerns should continue to bolster the
market, Gallant observed.
The biggest challenge for growth, he suggested, is attracting capital by convincing
lenders that the company can supply a dealer network, has enough manufacturing
capacity and can achieve the clean-air performance levels that will help differentiate the
product in a competitive market.
''It's not often that someone comes forward with a new and better take on an old
technology, with demand for the product,'' Gallant said. ''I think these guys stand a good
chance of being successful.''
Warm Up: How to heat your house—not the outside.
Slate.com
October 30, 2006
Meaghan O'Neill and treehugger.com
More than 20 percent of the carbon dioxide emissions in the United States come from
energy use in homes. A major source of the problem is heating. Some of us keep our
homes warmer than we need to—if yours feels like an icebox in summer and a toaster in
winter, you're probably in this group. In addition, most houses leak some heat from every
window, doorway, and air duct, which means that they're constantly wasting energy, and
thereby upping CO2 emissions.
This is not a necessary evil. Solar and wind power, which both create largely emissionsfree electricity, are still expensive and tricky. So is the newfangled geothermal energy.
But you can stick with regular old oil, gas, or electricity and still cut down on the amount
of energy you use to heat your home. Weatherizing is an excellent place to begin. Along
with shedding carbon pounds, it can save you hundreds of dollars each year. And there
are relatively painless ways to address overheating as well. Some suggestions for getting
started:
• According to the National Resources Defense Council, the gaps around the windows
and doors in most houses let out the same amount of air, all told, as a 3-by-3-foot hole.
You can find the leaks and then use caulking and weatherstripping to seal them off.
(Here's a how-to guide.)
• If your house has single-pane windows, you might as well leave them open. OK, not
really, but they won't make your house snug. Adding storm panels makes your windows
50 percent more energy efficient. Installing double-pane windows is even better. It can
cost thousands of dollars upfront, we admit. But double-pane windows save 10,000
pounds of CO2 per household from escaping into the atmosphere each year—that's five
tons. And the federal government and many states and cities will give you a tax rebate to
help defray the cost.
• Planting trees and shrubs around the foundation of your house helps insulate it from
wind and heat loss in winter. You'll also be cooler and shadier in summer.
• Losing a couple of degrees on the thermostat in winter also cuts CO2 pounds. Throw on
an extra sweater instead. (It's good advice, even if Jimmy Carter did say it first.)
• Chimneys of traditional fireplaces are designed to remove the byproducts of a fire by
creating a draft. That means they suck heat from your home, even when they're not in
use. It's a good idea to keep the damper closed. Better than a fireplace (or you could
install one inside it) is a wood-burning or pellet stove. They supplement your regular heat
source, are more efficient, and use fuel that's much cleaner and cheaper.
• OK, so you're really stuck—you live in an apartment and can't choose where your heat
comes from, or maybe even what temperature the thermostat is set to. You can still deal
with your carbon sludge by purchasing green tags for your home through programs like
TerraPass. Your home won't get a direct delivery of green energy. But you'll be investing
in it.
GenPower biomass plan appears dead
Morning Sentinel/mainetoday.com (Waterville, ME)
October 31, 2006
Larry Grard
ATHENS -- An agreement between a local landowner and a Belmont company to
manufacture wood pellets has effectively ended a Massachusetts company's controversial
plan to build a biomass energy plant in town.
The Maine Wood Pellet Co. LLC, co-owned by landowner Linkletter and Sons and
Maine Biomass Fuels LLC plans to build a factory big enough to produce 100,000 tons of
pellets a year.
The companies made the announcement Friday, during a meeting of the Somerset
Economic Development Corp.
Robert Linkletter, co-owner of the Athens wood-products and harvesting company, said
Monday that the new plan for the former Boralex Inc.'s biomass plant site on Route 151
puts GenPower out of the picture. Recently, Linkletter and Sons declined to renew a twoyear option with GenPower on the property.
GenPower had planned to burn some construction and demolition debris at the proposed
biomass plant, drawing substantial opposition from residents who feared the harmful
effects of air pollution.
Hillary Lister, a spokeswoman for Citizens Against Pollution In Town, said Monday that
she had just heard of the new Linkletter decision on Saturday. Lister said she has spoken
with other members of the organization.
"I'm relieved, and other members had the same positive reaction," Lister said. "I hope
they don't try to locate in another town nearby. There's been rumors about that."
The new plan should present no such controversies, Linkletter said.
"This is a simpler idea," he said. "It's wood going in; it's wood going out. There's nothing
real complicated about it."
Linkletter conceded that opposition in town to GenPower's power plant, which resulted in
a townwide moratorium and delayed state permitting, killed the proposal. He noted,
though, that Athens is going from a plan with a $17 million tax base to one worth $5
million.
Construction of the wood pellet plant should begin in the spring. The companies hope it
will be up and running by August, Linkletter said.
The Maine Woods Pellet Co. will employ 25 workers at the plant, plus 30 to 40 in the
woods and in trucks to supply the required 200,000 green tons of raw material.
Opposition to the biomass plant was substantial, especially when GenPower announced
its plan to burn "up to" 100 percent construction debris. A state law passed earlier this
year limited burning of debris to 50 percent.
The state Department of Environmental Protection expressed confidence that GenPower
technology would minimize the effects from the smoke coming from its boilers. But
CAPIT remained unconvinced, organizing a town moratorium against the burning of
debris, and tying up the permitting process in the state Legislature.
Lister said a wood pellet plant in town sounds like a good thing.
"It's locally-based and using local resources," said Lister, who chained herself to a
Statehouse railing early this year to protest the GenPower proposal during a hearing. "We
use a wood pellet stove at home, so I'd be glad to use locally-generated pellets."
Lister said that CAPIT will continue to exist, but in a "proactive" rather than "reactive"
capacity. The group will study issues such as renewable energy, she said.
Calls to Thomas D. Emero, general counsel and spokesman for GenPower, were not
returned on Monday.
Sharon and George Rybarczyk are co-owners of Maine Biomass Fuels. The Rybarczyks
also are part owners and managers of Creative Apparel Harmony, which operates six
Maine plants that manufacture protective clothing for the Department of Defense.
For the past year, the Rybarczyks have been looking for a partner that could supply the
required raw materials to such a facility. The Linkletters, meanwhile, were seeking
additional markets for their wood.
Maine Wood Pellet will dry and compress various forms of biomass, including saw mill
residue, forest thinnings and agricultural residue.
Close to 500,000 tons of this clean-burning, sustainable fuel are consumed annually
throughout the Eastern seaboard. In the past two years, demand for the product has grown
substantially.
Pellet stoves have gained in popularity since they debuted at least 20 years ago, according
to Steven Makowski, manager of the Black Stove Shop in Waterville.
"Over the last year we've probably sold more pellet stoves than in the previous three to
four years combined," Makowski said.
Markowski said the ease of operation, the fact that they can run off a thermostat, and the
rising cost of fuel, make the pellet stove a popular choice. Plus, he said, "You're using
one more part of the tree--now they use every part of the tree that's cut."
The Black Stove Shop has seven other Maine locations in Ellsworth, Bangor, Augusta,
Lewiston, Tophsam, Yarmouth and Portland.