Beloved But Not Green 

Editor:

Lynda McDevitt, in her May 4 letter (Mailbox), didn't mention a biomass energy technology that is much higher emission and much lower efficiency than the Scotia biomass power plant, the much-beloved wood stove.

Beginning more than 30 years ago, when I attended a talk by the "Burning Issues" organization (burningissues.org/lukebiomass.html), I have been strongly opposed to wood stoves. 

If even you believe that the emissions standards for biomass power plants are inadequate, there are enforced emission standards. There are no emission standards for wood stoves. Their emissions per unit of net energy delivered are much higher than for biomass power plants. Wood stoves often use poorly-seasoned wood and are typically operated even less efficiently than their already-low rated efficiency. Many people burn trash in their wood stoves, which makes their pollution even worse. Wood stoves are often located in urbanized areas (such as my across-the-street neighbor) directly exposing not only the residents and their children, but also their neighbors, to high levels of pollution. Studies cited in the "Burning Issues" website show that asthma and other respiratory diseases are much more prevalent in the children of households that use wood stoves.

Finally, the biomass power plant produces electricity that can be multiplied by three or more in a heat pump to produce much more heat than can be produced in a wood stove burning the same amount of wood fuel.

The unwelcome news is that the highest-pollution energy source in our communities is the "green" wood stove in your home.

Michael Winkler, Arcata