Heating the Midwest – Working to increase awareness and usage of renewable biomass for heat

OUR VISION

The Midwest relies heavily on fossil energy for heating homes and businesses. Heating the Midwest is a network of thermal biomass advocates working to increase awareness and usage of renewable biomass for heat, which has the potential to greatly reduce the region’s dependence on propane and fuel oil for thermal energy.

Heating The Midwest proposes that by 2025, 15% of all thermal energy in the Midwest come from renewable energy sources – 10% from sustainably produced biomass and 5% from solar thermal and geothermal sources. This shift in thermal energy sources has great potential to product economic, social and environmental benefits for the Midwest

Biomass in the form of pellets, cordwood, wood chips, agricultural residues or dedicated energy crops, is a cost-effective alternative to heating with fossil fuels. It’s abundant in the Midwest and when harvested sustainably, biomass for heat can have significant environmental benefits. For one, it’s renewable fuel. Also, because it’s made with plants, burning it only re-releases carbon the plants previously absorbed – new carbon dioxide is not released into the atmosphere. Another contributing factor is modern equipment. The technologies in today’s biomass stoves, boilers and furnaces emit far fewer particulates than those built decades ago, and when compared to heating with fossil fuels, they emit less sulfur dioxide and mercury. They are also highly efficient and made to minimize human interaction and maintenance. For all those reasons, heating with biomass is more attractive than ever.

OUR MISSION

To advance biomass thermal heating in the Midwest for a more sustainable future, while improving the economic, environmental and social well-being of the region

WHY BIOMASS

More than 12 million homes and businesses in the Midwest pay exorbitantly for heating spaces and water with propane and fuel oil. Biomass is a renewable and affordable alternative.