Homestead mailing list

[Bill Jones <billj AT harborside.com>]

This is especially funny, or sad, here in Coos County, where the voters 
actually bought their crap and voted to finance a natural gas pipeline 
into (or is it "out of") our wood-laden county:


     Study finds conversion to wood heat would reduce energy costs of
     Wisconsin schools.

The AP 
<http://links.mkt740.com/ctt?kn=52&m=906829&r=MTM3ODUwMTIzNwS2&b=0&j=NjI0OTM5MDIS1&mt=2&rj=NjI0OTM5MDIS1> 
(3/1) reported that a new study financed by Focus on Energy, a state 
program that promotes energy efficiency, "finds that up to 300 schools 
in Wisconsin could switch to wood heat and save hundreds of thousands of 
dollars in energy costs."  With the "current natural gas prices," the 
change to wood heat "would save schools up to $75,000 each year, paying 
for the investments perhaps within five years."  Don Wichert, director 
for Focus on Energy's renewable energy program, said, "There is this 
whole green movement.  I think school boards are much more receptive to 
looking at environmental and renewable technologies."  Wichert said 
conversion costs "vary from $100,000 to $2 million, depending on the 
size of the school."  Rice Lake Superintendent Paul Vine said taxpayers 
in his district "a year ago overwhelmingly approved spending $3.8 
million to upgrade and modernize a wood-chip burning boiler system 
installed in 1982 to make it more efficient."  Vine said that "heating 
with wood has saved the district hundreds of thousands of dollars over 
the years."