It is here, and has been here for a long time: wood.
The Northern Forest Center’s pilot project called “the Model Neighborhood” is inspiring of example of how wood is beneficial. The purpose of the project is to “move away from dependence on imported oil toward a local energy source that will create jobs and strengthen the forest economy [in the Northern Forest Region].”
The project is normalizing wood-pellet heating systems and illustrating some of the benefits of wood heating such as: lower-costs, reduced output of greenhouse gases, job creation, and the sustainable use of forests.
Check out the model project here.
Heating with wood is far more sustainable than oil, and is cheaper. Stacking wood and wood heat has long been apart of the cultural fabric in Vermont.
We have a few books in the Environmental Collection specifically related to heating with wood:
Renewable energy from forest resources in the United States
How Globalization is Changing the US Forest Sector
What do you think, should VLS heat with wood? Does it fit our culture? Could it complement the curriculum?
🙂 Heidi
Julien & Virginia Cornell Library 