Sustainable North

From the Christian Science Monitor on Monday, October 21, 2008:
Both traditional and pellet-burning wood stoves are in high demand as cold weather begins to grip the northern United States and Canada. Sales of wood stoves are up 55 percent so far this year over last, according to industry figures. And sales of wood pellet stoves [...]

[Read more →]

From the New York Times on Wednesday, October 1, 2008:
Making electricity from wood chips is trendy these days …
But here’s an interesting twist: many newly announced biomass plants will actually be running on old coal boilers. Xcel Energy, a big Midwestern utility, announced this week that it would spend up to $70 million to allow a [...]

[Read more →]

BY: Ilya Benesch, Cold Climate Housing Research Center
Energy Focus: Fairbanks Daily Newsminer October 2nd, 2008, Section A3
With winter on the horizon, the wood burning season is starting to gain momentum and all indications are that it will be the busiest in recent history. This brings up the topic of chimney safety. Since people in Fairbanks [...]

[Read more →]

From Sealaska Corporation (www.sealaska.org), dated September 11, 2008 and retrieved Tuesday, September 23, 2008:
Sealaska Corporation and Viking Lumber Inc. announced today that they have entered into a Letter of Intent (LOI) to examine an alternate energy supply enterprise utilizing wood waste for Southeast customers. Production facilities will be on Prince of Wales Island in Southeast, [...]

[Read more →]

On September 21, 2008, “AK,” an Alaska Public Radio Network statewide news and entertainment program, ran several features on heating and weatherizing the Alaskan home. Besides containing useful facts, the pieces highlights the challenges (and joys) of living in a cold climate. Listen to “Weatherization,” “Firewood Frenzy,” and “Firewood Health.”
Click here to listen to the [...]

[Read more →]

From the Washington Post, Saturday, September 13, 2008:
As gardeners, we are at the forefront of the new Green Revolution.
Knowing this, gardeners can take steps to promote sustainability in their landscapes. It involves how you use your property — everything you own. 
Thirty years ago, most home landscaping consisted of lawn, foundation plantings, a few trees, and [...]

[Read more →]

From the Fairbanks Daily News-Miner, September 15, 2008:
Baking in a wood-fired oven is not a new thing. The technology has been around for centuries in varied forms, Zimmer noted, but the technology has evolved right along with taste and food consumption in society during the course of those centuries. The oven used at Calypso Farm [...]

[Read more →]

BY: Dave Misiuk, Cold Climate Housing Research Center
Energy Focus: Fairbanks Daily Newsminer August 28th, 2008, Section A3
There are basically four different wood burning appliance types available that are considered “space heating” appliances. These are units which produce direct convective and/or radiant heat that can be used to heat a room, a house or other “space” [...]

[Read more →]

BY: John Davies, Cold Climate Housing Research Center
Energy Focus: Fairbanks Daily Newsminer August 21st, 2008, Section A3
Is your head swimming with all the talk about energy costs, weatherization, and energy rebates? Are you looking for a good, comprehensive source of information that explains the basics of energy use in your home and what steps you [...]

[Read more →]

BY: Dave Misiuk, Cold Climate Housing Research Center
Energy Focus: Fairbanks Daily Newsminer August 14th, 2008, Section A3
This is the second article in a series on residential wood heating. The series will include information about firewood, different heating appliance options, applications, installations and other aspects that will hopefully help us conserve our resources, keep our environment [...]

[Read more →]