SPECIAL EDITION | NEWSLETTER
JANUARY 2021 | A NOTE FROM HTM'S NEW PRESIDENT JEREMY MORTL

Breaking News: Biomass Act & How It Affects the HTM Community
 

The heating season is in full swing here in the Midwest. Although the fall and early winter saw mild temperatures and less than average snowfall across much of the Midwest, temperatures have been dropping in the past week. There is plenty of heating season still ahead of us.

Many of us in the biomass heating industry have been hopeful of the passing of the BTU Act dating back to 2009. Last month the residential portion of this Act was included as part of the Consolidated Appropriations Act 2021. 

This will give a three-year residential investment tax credit for high-efficiency wood heating appliances. This was a big step forward for our industry. With the new Biden administration being sworn into office on January 20th, there is hope for biomass thermal energy being included in their renewable energy agenda.

If you have a biomass heating project in mind or know somebody looking for information on a biomass heating project, please reach out to one of the Heating the Midwest team members to see how we can help.


AUTHOR:
Jeremy Mortl
Messersmith Manufacturing
President of HTM, Executive Steering Committee Member

CURRENT EVENTS
  • New Bipartisan Consolidated Appropriations Act of 2021
ACTION TEAMS ASSEMBLE 2021
  • Action Teams: The Heart of Heating the Midwest. How to Join.
UPCOMING EVENTS
  • June 22 | European Pellet Conference
LOCAL BIOMASS
  • Biomass for Sale
  • Biomass Wanted
BIOMASS AND ENVIRONMENT
  • In California, A Push Grows to Turn Dead Trees into Biomass Energy
JANUARY SPOTLIGHT RESOURCES
  • DOWNLOADABLE WHITE PAPER: Dynamic Lifecycle Analysis of Wood Bioenergy
  • STREAMABLE VIDEO: Heating with Wood Pellets
BIOMASS AND ECONOMY
  • February 3 Deadline Grant: Call for Proposals

HTM STEERING COMMITTEE
  • Jeremy Mortl* - President
  • Sabina Dhungana* - Vice President
  • T.J. Morice* - Secretary/Treasurer
  • Brian Brashaw* - Liaison to the Steering Committee
  • Stacy Cook*
  • William Cook
  • Bruno Zagar
  • David Neuman
  • Joseph Donnell
  • Becky Philipp
  • Tim Portz - National Rep
  • Ben Rose
  • Adam Sherman - National Rep
  • Jill Thibert
* Executive Members
Congress Includes Modern Wood Heating Incentives in Massive Clean Energy Package

December 31, 2020. The President has signed the Consolidated Appropriations Act of 2021 - as of 2021, residential biomass heating systems are eligible for a 26% tax credit!

BIPARTISAN CONSOLIDATED APPROPRIATIONS ACT OF 2021:
11 YEARS IN THE MAKING

The Biomass Thermal Energy Council (BTEC) and its coalition have worked with Congress since 2009 to amend the tax code to incentivize modern wood heating systems through the Biomass Thermal Utilization Act (BTU Act).

The Alliance for Green Heat, Forest Energy Corporation, Innovative Natural Resource Solutions, Maine Energy Systems, Orion Advocates, Pellet Fuels Institute, Renewable Heating Solutions, Sustainable Northwest, and many more organizations played integral roles to achieve this commonsense tax reform, making renewable wood heating more affordable.
ACTION TEAMS ASSEMBLE 2021
Action Teams: The Heart of Heating the Midwest

Right now, we are looking for new participants for our 2021 Action Teams. That's right. We need you to directly affect “boots on the ground” projects.


WHAT TEAMS CAN I BE A PART OF?

WHAT DO ACTION TEAMS DO?

  • Discuss industry challenges and how to overcome them in each sector
  • Network and support HTM goals for the renewable biomass initiative
  • Create awareness and grow demand for biomass thermal energy

WHEN DO THEY MEET
HTM Joint Action Team calls are held, as needed,
the Third Tuesday of each month at 1:30 p.m. CST
Additional action team calls are scheduled on demand.

CAN I JOIN? 
Yes. In fact, we're excited to have you! To find the action team with the best fit for you, contact HTM's Becky Philipp (bphilipp@auri.org) to join.
European Pellet Conference NEW DATE 2021

AUSTRIA In 2021, the conference – the largest annual pellet event worldwide with more than 450 participants from over 50 countries each year – shows how we can make a green recovery happen in practice and how the pellet sector can profit.

Take the opportunity and share your work, projects, research results, achievements, ideas, and insights with the worldwide sustainable energy community!

June 22, 2021 (Now offering an online option!)
LOCAL BIOMASS
Local Biomass Market
BIOMASS AND ENVIRONMENT
Photo Source: US Forest Service
In California, A Push Grows to Turn Dead Trees into Biomass Energy

JANE BRAXTON LITTLE | YALE ENVIRONMENT 360

As forests in California and the Western U.S. are hit by rising numbers of fires and disease outbreaks related to climate change, some experts argue that using dead and diseased trees to produce biomass energy will help to restore forests and reduce CO2 emissions.
JANUARY SPOTLIGHT RESOURCES
DOWNLOADABLE WHITE PAPER: Dynamic Lifecycle Analysis of Wood Bioenergy
Does replacing coal with wood lower CO2 emissions? Dynamic lifecycle analysis of wood bioenergy


The authors provide references that support realistic modeling of forest carbon dynamics that are reflective of current practice.
STREAMABLE VIDEO: Heating with Wood Pellets
WOOD PELLET ASSOCIATION OF CANADA
BIOMASS AND ECONOMY
February 3 Deadline Grant:
Call for Proposals
USDA FOREST SERVICE
2021 Community Wood Energy and Wood Innovation Grant:
Proposals Due by Feb 3, 2021
MORE WAYS TO GET BIOMASS NEWS
Find Heating the Midwest on
your favorite online platform
Follow Heating the Midwest to find out about the latest
news, events, and action team updates!
Facebook
LinkedIn
Twitter
Do you tweet? tag @HTM_BiomassHeat if you have Biomass news for us!
BiomassMagazine.com
  • Printed Magazine
  • Free digital Magazine
  • Free e-Newsletters
  • Free Webinars
Pellet Mill Magazine Free to U.S. Subscribers.
  • Printed Magazine
  • Free digital Magazine
BROUGHT TO YOU BY HEATING THE MIDWEST