[Stoves] Emissions from Residential Wood

[Steve Redmond]

I'm of course interested in emissions from burning 50% moisture content
organic matter, since I'm, basically surrounded by it.

I have a feeling that holds true for a lot of the world.

There isn't much plant life growing outside my window at 10 to 20% moisture
content.

To get it to that state of dryness takes a lot of energy, even if only
stacking it in the sun and wind. Keeping it at that level does as well.

Applying that energy, we also add emissions.

It would be interesting if stoves and furnaces were required to list on a
label their energy output after subtracting the average energy used to dry
transport and store the fuel it uses.
Of course local emissions may be worth reducing at the cost of embodied
energy because of its health impact. But I have a feeling that if we
re-think how we burn things, we can not only reduce embodied energy, the
physical labor to prepare a fuel, and its storage requirements, but improve
both local and embodied pollution.

We should have a term like embodied pollution, by the way -- if we do
already, sorry to sound foolish.

Steve Redmond
Vermont Heat Research