The Unspoken Biofuel, An Alternative to Fossil Fuels

Whether or not you believe in global warming and the threat of carbon dioxide emissions, there has been a lot of talk about bio fuels in the past few years. The situations in the middle east and the rising cost of petroleum and other fossil fuels have sparked an increased interest in bio fuels. Bio-diesel and ethanol get most of the press but there is one biofuel that does not get much airtime. This fuel grows naturally and is very abundant in many parts of the world. Enormous amounts of this fuel are thrown away as waste or left to rot on the ground every year. To utilize this fuel requires very little processing and energy and it is a source of energy that is practical for the consumer to use. The fuel I am talking about is firewood for home heating.

Most homes in America are heated by burning fossil fuels such as natural gas, oil, propane or from electricity of which a large amount is generated by burning coal and other fossil fuels. These fuels are in limited supply and release new carbon into the atmosphere that has been buried underground for millions of years.

Firewood is different than fossil fuels because it is a renewable part of the natural carbon cycle. When a tree is cut down and burned it does release carbon into the atmosphere, but with responsible sustainable forestry the trees that grow in it's place remove that CO2 from the atmosphere as they grow.

After nearly a century of fire suppression and past commercial timber harvest practices many of our forests are dangerously overstocked which makes them vulnerable to catastrophic wildfire and disease. Many of our forests are in desperate need of thinning and other treatments to restore them to a more natural condition.   Foresters often cut down the excess trees to allow the remaining trees to grow faster and larger and makes them more fire and disease resistant. These practices are beneficial and help the long term health of the forests and enhance wildlife habitat.

In many cases the trees that are removed to promote forest health are not suitable for producing commercial products such as lumber. Many of these trees could be used to make excellent firewood. Instead most of these trees are burned on the spot or just left on the ground to rot away. As they burn or rot the CO2 is released into the atmosphere the same as if you burned it in your fireplace but the energy is not utilized. Instead of utilizing this energy most people burn fossil fuels which releases a new source of carbon into the atmosphere while at the same time the wood is still being burned or laying on the forest floor rotting and releasing CO2. If more people utilized this highly abundant resource it would result in a net reduction of CO2 emissions.

One problem with heating with wood can be particle emissions in wood smoke. Modern wood stoves have come a long way in solving this problem. Modern stoves are designed to be energy efficient and produce very few particulates. A modern wood stove combined with seasoned dry firewood will produce no visible smoke when burning at it's optimum. There are also other products available to utilize wood heat such as wood fired cook stoves, wood fired water heaters and wood fired hot tubs.

If you are concerned about climate change, would like to become less dependent on fossil fuels or just like the comfort of a warm crackling fire start burning wood and using this resource that would normally go to waste. Support the health of our forests and your local economy and find a woodcutter near you.