Use of USA Forests for Home Heating - Can this Sensibly be Expanded?
Posted by Gail the Actuary on February 22, 2009 - 10:25am
Topic: Environment/Sustainability
This is one of my favorite posts by Nate, from back in 2007. I often think about it when people talk about how a large amount of wood can be used to create cellulosic ethanol for our cars. Nate mentions in this article that we are already using virtually all of the wood growth increment each year for home heating and other uses. Wood is not really a very expandable resource, without the USA becoming like Easter Island in not very long.- Gail
A short fifty years ago, people heated their homes in winter with coal. A hundred years ago and before, people living in cold climates largely stayed warm in winter with firewood. Today, in a country (and planet) with vastly more people, we heat homes in northern climates largely with high quality fossil fuels, specifically natural gas, heating oil, and propane. Trees, a less energy-dense form of stored sunlight than oil and gas, have recovered a good part of their former % of landcover in the US, despite being still used for paper, wood, furniture, pulp and some heat. Below is an analysis of how the US residential sector heats its homes, how large are our forests and how much they grow and how much wood we could use for heat, after fossil fuels decline.
US direct fossil fuel use for heating Click to enlarge.
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