© Dave Granlund
SO, WHAT DOES THE FUTURE OF WOODFUEL IN THE ADIRONDACKS LOOK LIKE?
Through our extenstive research, we can reasonably conclude that woodfuel in the Adirondacks could potentially serve as a viable and sustainable alternative heating source. First and foremost, woodfuel is a renewable heat source. Further, scientifically speaking, woodfuel is carbon neutral, emits less greenhouse gases than alternative heating sources when correctly implemented, and may even promote biodiversity within the Adirondack forests themselves. Moreover, from an economic standpoint, investing in woodfuel would support local wood distributers, and therefore boost the overall economy.
We have concluded the the main hinderence of implementing woodfuel extensively throughout the Adirondacks is the lack of both an economically and environmentally sound supply of wood. As seen in the case studies, woodfuel can be implemented from individual homes to larger buildings. Nevertheless, in each of the case studies, wood was primarily being distributed through private companies. While the state governmnet supports these private distributors and supports investing in woodfuel as an alternative heating source, it lacks a concrete plan as to what exactly logging for woodfuel would look like in the future in the Adirondack Park. Therefore, given all of its benefits, woodfuel holds great potential in being an alternative heating source in the Adirondacks, but would only be successfuly if the state government could delegate forest preserve land open to sustainable logging in order to supply enough wood for the region.