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Jamie Bemis

Apr 8, 2015
09:35

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Hi Seth, Thanks for submitting your proposal! This is a great idea! Your proposal would be strengthened if you could add more specific information on costs-- for instance, how much would it cost to convert a natural gas or oil heated home to a wood stove? And what is the typical cost of a cord of wood, and how much do you propose the city sell it to residents for? Can you estimate how many households the city's supply of wood trimmings could heat? Please feel free to make generous assumptions, just be explicit about what your assumptions are! Finally-- you mentioned that wood is carbon neutral. Can you explain this a little and provide more information on this? Thanks and I look forward to reading your revised proposal! Jamie

Jan Kunnas

Apr 8, 2015
10:27

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Hi Seth, I am worried that your proposal might create some serious air pollution problems, as burning of wood in small household stove is seldom very optimal. This problem will be amplified in this case as the quality of the wood coming from trimmings would not be very good, as it contains a lot of bark and contains a lot of moist if not dried properly. This problem can be seen in Finland in Friday evenings in small house areas at the outskirt of towns, when people are heating their wood fueled saunas. At that moment the air quality is there much poorer than in the centre with all its traffic. A larger combined heat and power generating plant would alleviate this problem trough a more efficient and cleaner burning process and higher smokestack, and generates also electric. Or perhaps you would like to consider the trimmings as a source of biogas instead: https://www.climatecolab.org/web/guest/plans/-/plans/contestId/1301402/planId/1314801 Regarding carbon neutrality you are perfectly right as the burning process will release the same amount of carbon dioxide as the plant bonded while growing.

Seth K

Apr 8, 2015
06:36

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Jamie and Jan, My goal is not to increase the number of number of wood-burning stoves but to exchange gas-guzzling deliveries of distant wood for locally sourced wood, while also reducing possible landfill use (I'm honestly not sure what happens to all the lumber and tree trimmings in Somerville, I never heard back when I mentioned this in the past.) While it's possible to convert to just firewood for heat, that would be expensive and the end result would be less convenient and practical, and Jamie is right that could lead to an increase it smoke and soot. That is something generally done when living off the grid. However, Somerville could provide literature on upgrading form a wasteful fireplace and an efficient fireplace insert or stove, the cost would only be a web page or some pamphlets. I added more details about possible sources of net carbon. The tree itself can only release the carbon it ingested and thus is neutral, but there are other factors, particularly shipment of heavy firewood. Biogas or a central incinerator could be more efficient, but would also cost a lot more and take a lot more time. This is a smaller idea could start tomorrow for $0.

Jan Kunnas

Apr 9, 2015
03:15

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Hi Seth, Good clarification.

Tim Mccormack

Apr 10, 2015
09:01

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One thing to watch out for is that there are regulations on how wood can be moved around in order to prevent the spread of disease. For example, I think wood from elms has to be handled carefully because of the risk of Dutch Elm Disease. This site seems to indicate that moving firewood less than 10 miles is pretty safe, but I don't know what local regs might apply: http://www.dontmovefirewood.org/

Seth K

Apr 10, 2015
12:20

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It would be pretty hard to move firewood 10 miles in a 4 square mile town. Also, I thought all of our elms were wiped out long ago? I can't quite figure out what in the world that website is trying to tell me, they just have link after link after link instead of information. My best guess is what they talking around only applies to Worcester county and state parks. Anyway, I would count this as another reason to provide local firewood to residents, versus hauling it in from as far away as New Hampshire.

Hemant Wagh

Apr 14, 2015
10:38

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Hello skintigh, Kindly go through a theme that would help get the wood and provide free fruits to people in city as well. Thanks. Link is below. https://www.climatecolab.org/web/guest/plans/-/plans/contestId/1300103/planId/1310401

Jamie Bemis

Apr 22, 2015
09:34

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Hi Seth, Just to provide clarification-- tree trimmings in Somerville that DPW clears are turned into mulch that is reused in the City (so they are not wasted!). But we are still open to considering other uses for this wood, which your proposal describes quite well. Thanks! Jamie

Michal Williams

May 9, 2015
04:48

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jbemis6, I can answer some of your questions. I installed a woodstove in my three-story single-family home in Somerville about eight years ago. The stove, chimney, permit, and installation cost around $5000. The stove heats the entire house except on the coldest days of winter. On those days I use gas heat. Cordwood, delivered, costs around $325/cord from an honest dealer. (There aren't too many.) Two cords per winter is plenty. Some softwood is also necessary for kindling, and to get the stove hot enough to burn the hardwood efficiently. Jan-K is incorrect about the use of tree-trimmings in a woodstove. I scavenge quite a bit of my wood, both soft and hard. I get all my softwood as scrap from construction sites. As for the hardwood, commercial tree-trimmers will frequently give me their trimmings (e.g., maple, beech, cherry), and are willing to cut them into 18" lengths. (The only trimmers who have refused work for the City!) I also pick up a lot of wood after storms. I age the wood for a year in my garage, and then burn it. It works fine.

Seth K

May 12, 2015
04:15

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Who did you get a cord of wood delivered from for $325? I have never even seen it that low even before the delivery charge.

Hemant Wagh

May 21, 2015
09:50

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https://www.climatecolab.org/web/guest/plans/-/plans/contestId/1301416/planId/1310401

Hemant Wagh

May 21, 2015
09:50

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