Renewable Energy Comparison

Many people throughout the country have a real concern for our economic and environmental future. The decisions we make regarding energy may well be the key to our success. For thirty years Tarm USA has been a part of this discussion and continues to be committed to advancing public understanding of the role that biomass can play as part of a well rounded national and personal energy strategy.

Debate about renewable energy production is often dominated by discussions about solar, wind and ethanol. In our daily lives we also tend to think a lot about gas mileage and electrical consumption. Thermal use of energy (space heating and domestic hot water production) represents 1/3 of the energy used in this country. In northern climates, space heating and hot water production represent 75% of our total residential energy use. While solar, wind and ethanol have their place and must be included as crucial components of our energy strategy going forward, biomass is often not mentioned as a real answer to reducing our oil addiction, carbon emissions and energy costs. Wood and pellet boilers may not be getting the press or have the prestige of a Photovoltaic (PV) array, or wind turbine in the front yard, but the use of biomass will far outpace these other sources when it comes to the amount of fossil fuel saved and reduced carbon output per dollar spent.

Comparing different types of renewable energy can be difficult because cost and output can vary widely. We have created the graph below to help. The graph shows examples of different alternative energy systems with cost of installation, amount of energy generated annually, amount of oil offset, and resulting fossilized carbon dioxide offset.

These are examples of some simple residential installations that add perspective to a purchasing decision by illustrating the true amount of energy savings, and therefore economic savings, that each type of system can generate annually. While the first three examples are relatively passive and require very little interaction from the homeowner, they cannot compete when it comes to overall reduction in fossil fuel use and carbon emissions. The use of biomass boilers with a heat storage system will not only reduce your dependence on fossil fuel for space heating and domestic hot water production, it has the potential to eliminate it completely.

The use of biomass boilers sold by BioHeatUSA has helped our customers reduce fossil fuel use by the equivalent of over 33,000 barrels of oil. The amount of CO2 produced for every pound of fossil fuel combusted is 3.15 pounds. This means that our boilers have reduced CO2 emissions by 165 tons in the last three years. BioHeatUSA/Tarm USA has been importing, distributing, and supporting the use of biomass boilers throughout the U.S. and Canada for more than 30 years, and will remain committed to supplying technologically advanced boilers with innovative heating solutions far into the future. We hope you take this option into consideration as you make your own energy choices and we would be pleased to answer any questions you may have.