[SustainableTompkins] Wood for Both Heat and Power

[Joel and Sarah Gagnon]

Fascinating. I'm impressed both by the analysis and by the rather daunting 
list of needs that will have to be addressed to bring products to market. 
Thanks for sharing this with us, Glynn.

Joel

At 06:01 PM 6/27/06 -0400, you wrote:
>Nice reference to using wood for heat and power.
>
>http://mha-net.org/html/p-kani01.htm
>
>
>
>Select text from the page:
>
>
>Integrated Wood-fired Cogeneration
>
>As a result of the CMHC Toronto Healthy House project the need for
>development of a low-output, wood-fired cogenerator at a reasonable cost was
>identified. Allen Associates has been asked by CMHC to conduct a study into
>the technical and commercial feasibility of wood-based thermal devices that
>could also provide electrical power (Ref. 2).
>
>The concept typically focuses on wood combustion to generate mechanical
>output via steam power or directly from heat via an "external combustion"
>engine known as a Stirling engine. However, wood gasifier and thermopile
>technologies are also being assessed.
>
>Market Feasibility
>
>Wood burning appliances exist in a total of 1,400,000 Canadian households
>Wood or biomass fueled stoves are the sole source of heat in close to
>500,000 homes. For these users it is typically less costly to heat a home in
>this manner than with electricity or oil (if available). The economics would
>be further improved if electrical production for appliances and lighting
>were included in the scenario.
>
>A potential market for single dwelling wood-fired cogeneration needs to be
>defined. There are established market for metal wood stoves, masonry
>heaters, cook stoves and whole-house fireplaces. In terms of housing types
>there are essentially three groups:
>
>  off-grid rural low-density
>  on-grid rural low density with high non-wood fuel costs
>  on-grid high density (urban) with lower non-wood fuel costs
>
>These groups of dwellings will be quantified and market penetration rates
>defined. In rural communities, the household scale application will compete
>with community systems; however, many of the houses are separated by
>significant distances, making it uneconomic for hook-up to district energy
>systems. For the off-grid case, clearly any reliable self-generation,
>including PV and wind, is attractive and integration with thermal functions
>should be a winner. Grid-connection has the attraction of export and not
>requiring electric storage if the meter can spin forward and backward.
>Ontario Hydro is just embarking on a pilot project of this type. The above
>identified market niches will have significantly different expectations of
>the technology which will need to be addressed.
>
>Alternative and complementary technologies will be reviewed to note
>opportunities as well as potential competition. An alternative technology is
>methane-producing digesters fed by compost and/or human waste, and a
>complementary technology is PVs which supplement electricity year-round but
>maximize output in summer when thermal output from wood heat has lower
>demand."
>
>
>
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