By the end of summer, inventors from around the world will enter their best heating designs in the Wood Stove Design Challenge, a competition led by the Alliance for Green Heat and several partners, including Popular Mechanics. The challenge seeks to find an innovative next-generation wood stove to heat the typical middle-class American home in an affordable, consumer- and environmentally friendly way. The winning design will be featured in the magazine?and earn a $25,000 prize.
Biomass heating?by wood-burning or pellet stoves?has spiked in popularity. According to the 2010 Census, the number of U.S. households heating with wood went up by 34 percent since 2000. That sounds great, and "green," but there?s a downside. "Wood smoke continues to be a problem, because many of the stoves that people are using aren?t very efficient, and that leads to extra emissions," challenge program manager Melissa Bollman says.
Solar, wind, and geothermal are in the forefront of energy technology now, but John Ackerly, president of the Alliance for Green Heat, says this competition will help wood stove technology gain more attention. "There is such an urgency to find ways to reduce fossil-fuel use," he says. "[Wood stoves] can be an incredibly affordable way to reduce fossil fuels at a tenth the cost of what solar thermal, geo, PV, or the other renewals can be."
Individuals, companies, and universities from around the world are encouraged to compete with designs to improve this technology. They must register by October 1. In-depth applications for each team are due by December 20 and are available now at forgreenheat.org. Although the deadline seems far away, a full-fledged design and all supporting materials must be ready for submission. Testing results and a prototype are encouraged but not required.
Most importantly for PM readers, Ackerly wants this to be a "people?s competition" and encourages backyard inventors to apply. Among the 10 teams already registered, some fit that description. "We have these guys who have been working in their basement for years," Ackerly says. "They claim to have this amazing new technology, and they are thrilled to put it up next to existing technology."
By January 2013, the team of judges?including Popular Mechanics editor-in-chief, Jim Meigs, Rod Tinnemore of the Washington Department of Ecology, and members of EPA and the New York State Energy Research & Development Authority (NYSERDA)?will select up to 16 finalists. Teams will have until November 2013 to perfect and create their designs for the ultimate showdown: the Wood Stove Decathlon.
During the decathlon held on the National Mall in Washington, D.C., judges will decide which units perform the best in real-world tests. In addition to the top prize of $25,000, an additional award of $10,000 will be split among two to five runners-up. But the money is only part of the equation. "If we can come up with a smokeless stove," Ackerly says, "we can come up with something that literally millions of Americans could adopt within a couple years."
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