We completed our new boiler building a couple of weeks ago as part of the Tamarack Farm sustainability project. We are expecting to receive the Froling high-efficiency wood chunk boilers this week and, with any luck, they’ll be running by the end of next week.
This is a big step in our carbon reduction program across the Farm & Wilderness campus. Firewood, when harvested at sustainable rates and burned efficiently, is considered carbon neutral, or “biogenic”. This means no new carbon is being introduced to the ecosystem. Fossil fuels, which are mined, introduce “new carbon” when burned.
While Farm & Wilderness forests are managed sustainably, we anticipate getting most of our wood fuel from “hazard trees”, or dead trees that have blown over and will start releasing carbon as they decay.
We anticipate running these boilers year round. Our staff will operate the boilers to heat the farmhouse all winter, and our campers will be trained and will run the boilers in the summer to provide hot water for the kitchen.
If you have an interest in sustainable wood production and climate change here is a useful link: http://www.uvm.edu/~cfcm/
Here is a link to the Froling products http://www.froeling.com/us/
Best,
Jay Kullman, Resource Director
