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1. The carbon footprint of wood pellet heating can greatly reduce your carbon footprint compared to fossil fuels.<\/strong>\u00a0A study by The Alliance for Green Heat and VU University Amsterdam revealed that heating with wood pellets can emit about one tenth the carbon as heating with oil. If the forests where the wood pellet raw material has been taken from are sustainably managed, the overall carbon footprint is drastically reduced in comparison with fossil fuel heat.\n
\nEnergy.gov explains that wood pellets produce very little air pollution; “In fact, pellet stoves are the cleanest solid fuel, residential heating appliance.”<\/p>\n
According to the Energy Information Administration, direct thermal conversion of 3 million tons of wood pellets displaces the equivalent of almost 8.5 million barrels of #2 fuel oil – which is 356 million gallons.\u00a0Making the switch from oil heat to a wood pellet stove or furnace could lead to a 60 to 90% reduction of carbon emissions.<\/p>\n
2. Forests can directly benefit from wood pellet heat too.<\/strong> If raw materials for wood pellet manufacturing are from environmentally-responsible sources – burning pellets releases fewer carbon emissions than if trees were left to decompose in the forest.\u00a0Most wood pellets are manufactured with waste sawdust of other wood industries \u2013 not from cutting trees. However, when trees are used, modern forestry practices can actually improve the rate of carbon removal from the atmosphere by planting new trees which absorbs more CO2.<\/p>\n