DE pela an dE, RS ere tere? tig AE SRN Ow, i eae RN a a te Hey - CRS eee 0 eras nead | awe BP ee Cay meg eitgyan bee re Terra ee oe . ante yee meee nett: era is re, OEE a a a Ta aa aa I OR hin Ea pe hae pace 2g tans, eT --. “Wood’s nice, but . ecetitly gained “continued from page 6B * * am Kenney St. ~ becoming . unfashionable, : no- o body: told the corrections center "or RSF energy in Smithers. ‘RSF. became a model: business “success ‘story in the early years of “this decade, ‘manufacturing and § marketing several lines of high- “efficiency | wood-burning heaters. --chell said the company has never _been busier. “From ‘June to ‘November: of this year. RSP’s ‘manufacturing ' and shipping - plant’ in Smithers J _employed: 50 people ‘and ran two ‘shifts: to: keep up with demand. ON Mitchell says in 1987' sales, went. ‘ “up 15: percent, ‘last year.they in- \ -” creased by 25-percent:and’ this’ [ «year’s will-be up 60 percent from "1988. Hardly a downward trend. The Northwest is an isolated ‘| ““wasteland for woodstove sales, : § Mitchell says, and the reason is . the natural gas . promotional . blitz, He’s seen. it happen be-. _. fore, “Right now our sales fig- ___. res: ih’ Terrace are disastrous, | os * but that’s not representative of North America as a whole. - We're exporting to Scandanavia : fandall over the place,”’ he said. “=~Mitchell says the gas com- “panies establish target Jegions to . ‘ push their product, and the ‘Northwest is the latest region, to “come. under their » marketing ~ pressure. A few years ago. at. was - - the. Vancouver area, but; Mit- ° chell, SAYS. woodstove sales. have’ rebounded - there. The: same . thing happened in Alberta, but _| .RSF's sales there have increased - ~~ fourfold since the gas marketing "thrust ended. ste ett ~ “It’s tough competition, he ad- “mits, and its easier for RSF to do its: marketing in other areas. rather than trying to fight it. easy,”’ he remarked. With Bas, you just hook it up.’ -From the retailer’s point of view, gas is an. easier . sell. '-“There’s less education for the dealer to -sell gas,’’ Mitchell says. Woodstove buyers have to be briefed on the operation and maintenance of their new ap- pliances. Installation regulations -# ‘also change periodically as safe-: : _ ty and emission . standards evolve, requiring owners ‘to undergo expensive upgrades and _ additional inspections. Transfer- . Ning a home heated by wood j re- quires a certification, and wood: , burning appliances incréase home insurance premiums, Mitchell thinks all this is part- ly a lobbying effort on the part of megalithic utility companies who see small, independent - manufacturers invading their traditional home-heating turf. He said recent clean air legisla- . tion in the U.S. has decimated the woodstove manufacturing © sector south of the border: the number of companies building ~ wood heaters has gone from 650 - a few years ago to 50 at the pre- sent time. It's become a tough inarket to penetrate when the cost to get a woodstove design certified can be up to half a . thillion dollars. “But heating with wood has some new = - environtnentalists, i in- lood vs gas. =] " _In an interview last i - week, RSF president John Mit- it’s not. POET ey _. . . Terrace Review — Wednesday, December 6, 1989 1B All that fuel has to. be. burned, z = “in something. If wood ‘heat is J i Despite the surge in poputarity of natural gas appliances in the Northwest, firewood is still ahot commodity. The. ‘Terrace Community Corrections operation can ' keep up with the demand. . cluding, Mitchell says, the: emi- nent. Dr. David Suzuki. Design advances in recent years | have - enabled: woad . burners to cut: hydrocarbon, “ethissions,,, and - scientists. ‘say burning . wéod doesn’ t contribute. to the green- house gases in the atmosphere. The theory is that burning hydrocarbon fuels liké oil, coal.” and indeed. ‘‘clean burning” natural gas releases carbon diox- ide into the atmosphere -that , would otherwise. remain locked up in the earth. Wood, on the ‘other hand, will oxidize and release carbon dioxide whether it’s burnt or left to rot on the TERRACE — Pacific North- ern Gas sales and accounting , superyisor Rich Green is proud to note that the per- centage of -natural gas- powered vehicles in this- district is higher than anywhere else in Canada. To date, in Terrace, 650 yehicles have converted to natural gas. by Betty Barton Natural gas is more en- vironmentally conscious than gasoline or diesel, and more economical. The price of natural gas for vehicles has stayed the same since the in- ception of this product in 1984. During the same time period, gasoline has risen -from 44 ceitts per liter to 54. cents per Jiter in this area. U.S. president George Bush has already passed legislation . a a forest floor. Therefore, by burn- ‘ing wood ‘aS. ‘a. fuel, woodstove owners are: “just accelerating a process: ofhat would ‘occur Aaturally. anyay - —in terms of the net arpount of carbon diox- ide that gogs into the air. , The greenhouse, effect is ex- pected. to. heat’ up the. world’s . climate over a period of time due to accumulation of carbon diox- ide in the atmosphere. Fuels give off carbon dioxide when. burn- ed, but trees and other green plants absorb carbon dioxide and release oxygen into the air as part of the photosynthesis pro- cess. The argument for using to have all public transit vehicles converted to natural gas by 1991. Even Cummins, which has a good reputation for building diesel engines for trucks, boats and light trucks, is now developing a _ natural gas engine. Pacific Northern Gas is looking into funding to convert some local logging trucks over to natural gas. It is clean- burning and environmentally kind. Pacific Northern Gas and B.C. Hydro are presently co- operating in a co-generation program. This program will encourage mining companies and other industrial concerns to use natural gas for power generators to make their own electricity. This will benefit the northern mining com- panies with less expensive, Be 4 -wood as fuel goes further by stating that the havesting of mature trees and replacement of them. with young growing trees increases . the, earth’s, ability, to absorb carbon dioxide and replenish oxygen. The young trees metabolize the gases more actively than older treés. So it appears that the real decline, hastened by policies of the government and the utility companies, is in the use of oil | and electric heat.. RSF represen- tative Sally Cunningham puts it this way: “As for the myth of ‘the demise of the woodstove’ if this were-true, RSF Energy ‘would have a hard tiie explaining this | year’s dramatic increase in-pro- duction. The ‘plant hasihad to employ..a ‘second. shift:to meet ~~ the: increasing demand — for ‘stoves, fireplaces and furnaces. © The future forecast: promises to ‘be even busier. So, let’ us instead spread the word of the ‘renais- sance of the woodstove.’ We can now have all the charm of Grandma’s woodstove, the romance of the fireplace, the ef- ficiency of a controlled heating system, and rest easy knowing we are doing our best to save the environment.” _ Pacific Northern Gas sees success in new programs more efficient and reliable users of the most up-to-date power. New techniques are being developed for drying lumber with natural gas. The process is cheaper, better and quicker than the traditional methods. Foreign buyers are going to appreciate the cost savings in shipping because the lumber will be more thoroughly dried and lighter to transport. It will also be less likely to warp or mold. And, the use of chemicals present- ly used to deter fungus from growing on the wood will no longer be needed. Pacific Northern Gas will be one of 60 to 70 exhibitors involved in Vancouver Gastech ‘90, scheduled for -April 18 and 19, 1990. The objective of this conference is to inform intermediate and large volume natural gas gas utilization technology. The trade show/exhibition. portion allows those who at- tend to see and hear about the latest gas technology and equipment. Canadian and U.S. Pacific North-West gas utilities will be inviting their customers to attend. This is an interna- tional conference where speakers from a number of countries will present developments in new gas technology. The seminar portion of the conference will include lectures and dis- cussions on hot water and steam generation, drying techniques, natural gas vehi- cle technology, co-genera- tion, air conditioning and refrigeration and high tem- perature applications. .