The folks in the biofuel groups would probably want to read this story and offer their opinions also.
On Mon, 18 Nov 2002 11:21:41 -0500, you wrote: >This is an example of how stupid society is. >More gasoline was spent to grow the corn than the btu delivered to heat the >houses. >And, how much propane was used to dry the corn. >The line about no till is a scam. It is illegal to till. >I find it immoral to burn top quality livestock feed. >Firewood is a pain in butt to burn. Pellet stoves are better. Pellets made >from other less valuable stock would be the test to burning corn. > >Ken Bosley >K.W. Bosley >Wind Energy Consultant >Wind Power and Utilities Litigation Services >homepage: <http://home.earthlink.net/~windenergy/ PO Box 585 Sparks, MD >21152 USA >410 771-4316 410 472-1081 nights >email: [EMAIL PROTECTED] [ windenergy @ earthlink. net [ no spaces] >Alternate email: [EMAIL PROTECTED] [ windpower @ earthlink. net no >spaces >Internet voice mail: 1-888-BUSY-888 555 867-5309 # > >Corn warms D.C. suburb >Popping: Feed corn that's used to fatten hogs has another use in Montgomery >County, keeping people warm. > >---------------------------------------------------------------------------- >---- > >By Gus G. Sentementes >Sun Staff >Originally published November 18, 2002 > > > >TAKOMA PARK - The corn-burning stove that Mike Tidwell put in his living >room last winter kept most of his 87-year-old, two-story bungalow toasty >warm - so much, in fact, that his furnace never came on. >But Tidwell and some other local residents who use the stoves realized they >still had one big hurdle to overcome this winter: how to store enough corn >in this Washington suburb. > >Their solution was a 25-foot-tall grain silo that holds nearly 21 tons of >shelled field corn. Used mainly as animal feed, this type of corn has become >more popular in recent years as a clean-burning, economical alternative to >natural gas, oil and wood. > >"It's a standard agricultural procedure happening right here in Takoma Park, >except we're using it to heat our homes," Tidwell said while watching an >18-wheel rig fill the silo with its first delivery of more than 20 tons of >corn kernels last week. > >But the silo also stands as a symbol of the unique partnership forged >between the city, businesses and local residents - one that Tidwell, a >writer and environmental activist, hopes other communities will emulate. > >About 10 families are participating in the Save Our Sky Home Heating >Cooperative. Its members pay a one-time $100 fee, plus $400 to cover the >cost of the corn for the heating season. > >Tidwell estimated that each of the families would use an average of 3 1/2 >tons of corn to heat their homes this winter, which will likely mean another >corn delivery later in the heating season. > >The cooperative covered the $4,000 cost of the silo mainly through donations >from businesses. American Energy Systems Inc., a Minnesota corn-stove >manufacturer, gave a $3,000 grant to the cooperative to help defray the >cost. > >One of the manufacturer's Maryland dealers, Cornburners Inc. of Finksburg, >chipped in $500. > >And the nonprofit Chesapeake Climate Action Network (of which Tidwell serves >as executive director) contributed another $500. > >The city of Takoma Park was persuaded - after ironing out liability >concerns - to allow the residents to put the silo on a small patch of land >at its Department of Public Works compound, which is nestled in the midst of >a leafy neighborhood. > >Corn-burning stoves have been around since the early 1980s, taking root in >the Midwest where farmers have easy access to the crop. But their appeal has >spread across the country wherever there is cold. > >Mike Haefner, president of American Energy Systems, one of more than 30 >stove manufacturers in the United States, has been making and selling >corn-burning stoves since the early 1980s. > >The Midwest is his busiest market, followed by Eastern states, such as New >Hampshire, New York, Pennsylvania and Maryland. > >Last year, his company made 7,500 stoves, but turned away orders for 8,500 >more because he lacked the manufacturing capacity. Since then, the company >in Hutchinson, Minn., built a plant that's capable of making 20,000 stoves a >year. > >Helping the Save Our Sky Home Heating Cooperative get a silo for their corn >was an astute business move, Haefner acknowledges. > >Dealers across the country sell his stoves for between $2,100 and $2,500, >plus installation fees -at least half the cost of a typical natural-gas >furnace. Many of the cooperative's members are buying his stoves. > >"We're committed to putting together whatever it takes to make corn a viable >heating alternative," Haefner said. > >Tidwell, who stores the corn kernels in trash cans in his garage, said he >shaved $200 off his heating costs last winter. > >Thom Wolf, another Takoma Park resident, said he was spending about $300 a >month to heat his home with natural gas before installing a corn-burning >stove last winter. > >Last winter, Wolf said, he spent between $60 and $100 a month to run his >stove. The corn stove heated about two-thirds of his 3,000-square-foot home, >while he used a natural gas stove for the rest. > >Dennis Buffington, a Pennsylvania State University professor of agricultural >and biological engineering, said he expects the use of corn as fuel to >become more widespread in the near future, pointing to a number of >environmental, economic and even political benefits. > >"It renews itself in three or four months as compared with the hundreds of >millions of years it takes for coal or natural gas to be produced," >Buffington said. > >"We're reducing our reliance on foreign sources, and providing a much needed >impact for our rural communities." > >Tidwell said the cooperative buys its corn from Gary Boll, a Frederick >County farmer, because he employs environmentally friendly growing >techniques, such as no-till farming, which lessens soil erosion. > >About 80 percent of the fertilizer he uses is manure from his own animals, >while the rest is chemical fertilizers, Boll said. > >An abundance of corn has kept its market price low for years. Boll said he >makes more money selling his corn for fuel than he does selling to mills for >commercial processing. > >Before he started selling his corn for fuel, he used most of it as feed for >his hogs. Now he sees a future in selling corn for fuel. > >"Last year, we sold 40 tons for the whole winter," said Boll. "This year we >have one ton short of 40 already that we've sold." > > > >Copyright © 2002, The Baltimore Sun > > > >[Non-text portions of this message have been removed] > > >========================================================== >THANK YOU FOR PARTICIPATING IN THE RENEWABLE ENERGY LIST. >---------------------------------------------------------- >. Please feel free to send your input to: > [EMAIL PROTECTED] >. Join the list by sending a blank e-mail to: > [EMAIL PROTECTED] >. To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to: > [EMAIL PROTECTED] >. To view previous messages from the list, > subscribe to a daily digest of the list, > or stop receiving the list by e-mail > (and read it on the Web), go to > http://www.yahoogroups.com/list/renewable-energy . >. This e-mail discussion list is managed by > the American Wind Energy Association: > http://www.awea.org >---------------------------------------------------------- > > >Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/ > > Biofuel at Journey to Forever: http://journeytoforever.org/biofuel.html Biofuels list archives: http://archive.nnytech.net/ Please do NOT send Unsubscribe messages to the list address. To unsubscribe, send an email to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/
