So what this is... is a basic outline of the ppt i created for the April 9th potluck.

I don't even really know if we'll have access to powerpoint, but i figured it'd be good to have either way.

Input/Editing welcome :)  --Anne

PS... oh yea there will be pictures...

• Vermont Sustainable Heating Initiative
• How We Got Started…
  • Governor’s Institute of Vermont Winter Weekend
  • Built rocket stoves
  • Tested efficiency
  • Burned
  • Japanese Knotweed,
  • Jerusalem Artichoke,
  • other high-density perennials
  • Involved the “political action” strand
• VSHI Emerged
  • Students started meeting weekly
  • Started Facebook Group
  • Has 200+ members
  • Mainly high school students from
  • Mt. Abe
  • Montpelier
  • Cabot
  • South Burlington
• The Goal
  • Help Vermont transition away from fossil fuel heat sources towards local, renewable, heat sources
• Can it be done?
  • Vermont’s Sustainable Heating Options
  • Cord wood
  • Wood Pellets
  • Grass Pellets
  • Geothermal
  • Passive Solar
• Wood
  • Vermont only has 3 cords of wood per person
  • Wood stoves can generate up to 7.5g/hr of particulate matter
  • Wood harvest: ~1 ton/acre/year sustainably
• Grasses
  • 100,000 acres of underutilized agricultural land in VT
  • Grass Harvest: 5-16 tons/acre/year sustainably
  • VT’s residential energy consumption
  • Energy density/ton
  • Prairies grew to burn
  • Low nutrient crop
• Creating Supply and Demand
  • Get Farmers Involved
  • No new equipment necessary (same as haying)
  • Fertilizer: ashes from the stoves, or none
  • Get Pellet Stoves in People’s Homes
  • Establish a pelletizer station in Vermont
• Low Income Families
  • LIHEAP (Low Income Heating Assistance Program)
  • Emergency Furnace Fund
  • Neighbor Keepers
  • Find qualified pilot project participants
  • Work with Landlords
• Middle-Upper Income Families
  • Farmer’s Market Outreach
  • Gather interested people’s emails
  • Hold an informational session
  • Form a Consumer Co-op
• Research Facility & Pelletizer
  • Coalition of VT Colleges
  • UVM
  • Norwich
  • VTC
  • Eventually establish one pelletizing station per county
• Recent Developments
  • 80% Challenge in Montpelier
  • With Ken Jones
  • Boutin’s retrofitting invention
• What Can You Do?