Heating Options, Part Two

The way I see it, active heating options come from three primary categories:

Fossil fuels: this includes natural gas, coal, and an assortment of refined petroleum products – heating oil, kerosene, and propane.

Electricity: generated at a distance from coal, hydro, or nuclear; generated locally from solar, wind, or micro-hydro

Bio-fuels: Primarily wood, although many folks are experimenting with bio-alcohols and bio-diesels. Dried animal dung (think Buffalo Chips, but don't confuse them with Buffalo Wings) is a functional substitute in woodless areas.

Since my concept of sustainability is not using a resource faster than it can be replenished, I have a difficult time justifying profligate use of fossil fuels when other alternatives are available. And yes, I feel guilty every time I drive somewhere. So to depend on kerosene or propane as my primary heat source is not something I can comfortably do – it doesn't match my dual guide posts of satisfying and sustainable.

Electric is an option, but a fairly expensive one. For someone on the grid, it might even make sense, as long as you're aware and comfortable with how it's generated. Most power plants fall into three categories – coal (with its mountain top removal mining methods), hydro (utilizing dams, radically changing the environment and occasionally obliterating species), and nuclear (even without meltdown concerns, they still haven't figured out what to do with the spent but still hot rods).

Off-grid electric, or micro-generation, I'm more comfortable with. The first one most people think of is solar (requiring high-tech manufacturing with limited resources), then wind (having trouble coming up with a complaint here – turbines have been built using scavenged parts, the ultimate in recycling!), and micro-hydro (sometimes dropped straight into the water, sometimes using piped diverted water).

Finally we get to the bio-fuels. Burning wood or other materials (can put particulates into the air causing local air pollution) and derivatives such as bio-diesel and bio-alcohol (the jury is still out on whether as much energy is produced by the fuel as is consumed to create the fuel).

Boy, I'm just a bundle of joy today, aren't I?

So not having sufficient funds, sun, or wind, I'm pretty much out of luck for electric. No consistently running water, either, but that didn't scan as well. There are some windy days where I really wish I had a turbine, but not enough of them to make a reliable source of electricity I could convert to heat when I need it most.

I don't have the mechanical and chemical aptitude to create derivative bio-fuels, so I'm left with wood. Which I have lots of! I don't even have to cut down trees – those windy days will often lay them down for me. I have no idea how many cords are laying around (many are slightly hung up so not rotting) waiting for me to harvest the fuel. Plus there are weed trees that if removed will allow its (former) neighbors to better live their lives. And lots of coppicing stumps from the last timber harvest. Here is a resource that seems to be renewing faster than I can imagine needing to use it.

It used to be that every farm had its woodlot that produced the firewood from year to year. In fact I know of at least one forest preserve in the Chicagoland area that used to be the woodlots for residents of the nearby village, and I wouldn't be surprised if some of the other forest preserves had similar histories. So historically even town folk, not just farm folk, had access to wood.

So my best choice seems pretty straightforward to use wood for heat. However I am planning to also have a backup system based on either kerosene or propane, in case for some reason I cannot maintain the wood heat (out of town, injured, what have you). My goal is to never need the back-up system, but one saying I believe in is “two is one, one is none”, something of a variation of not putting all your eggs into one basket. Everyone's circumstances are different, and I would never claim to have all the right answers; each of us need to consider our own situation and options, and choose how we best see fit.