Posted on 01/20/2013 12:29:03 PM PST by Jack Hydrazine
With energy costs escalating, more Germans are turning to wood burning stoves for heat. That, though, has also led to a rise in tree theft in the country's forests. Woodsmen have become more watchful.
With snow blanketing the ground, it's the perfect time of year to snuggle up in front of a fireplace. That, though, makes German foresters nervous. When the mercury falls, the theft of wood in the country's woodlands goes up as people turn to cheaper ways to heat their homes.
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The problem has been compounded this winter by rising energy costs. The Germany's Renters Association estimates the heating costs will go up 22 percent this winter alone.
(Excerpt) Read more at spiegel.de ...
Same thing may be happening in Greece.
http://iceagenow.info/2013/01/greece-tree-theft-rise-order-warm/
The theft of trees is taking place also in Greece a lot, says reader Argiris Diamantis. In the Northwest of Greece very poor people from nearby Albania are cutting Greek trees to keep warm in the cold winters.
Use Google Translate on this link.
http://www.alphafm.gr/archives/61822
Is it even legal to burn wood for fuel in most European countries?
If not, or if it is subject to serious regulation, then only criminals will be burning wood. They stole it in the first place, right?
Nothing like a little “hot” merchandise to warm up the ol’ home place.
Greeks Raid Forests in Search of Wood to Heat Homes Posted on January 14, 2013 by mkriegs| 32 Comments
Submitted by Michael Krieger of Liberty Blitzkrieg
Greece just seems to be getting worse and worse. Being the leading edge of Southern Europes descent into 3rd world status, Greeces lessons are all of our lessons, as I outlined in my piece last year The Global Spring. From the Wall Street Journal:
Tens of thousands of trees have disappeared from parks and woodlands this winter across Greece, authorities said, in a worsening problem that has had tragic consequences as the crisis-hit countrys impoverished residents, too broke to pay for electricity or fuel, turn to fireplaces and wood stoves for heat.
The Germans abandoned nuclear energy and have embraced the fiction of green energy sources. Not the first time Germany has made a monumental strategic blunder.
Every Forstmeister that I ever met knew exactly where every tree and log in his forest was at all times. These are some very smart thieves.
“Is it even legal to burn wood for fuel in most European countries?”
In Germany, yes. The Germans have the best, nmost efficient way to do it too: http://www.rvharvey.com/kachelofen.htm
I’ve always wanted one. You put in the oven, and wire the floor for electric heat. It’s incredibly warm and cheap. Two logs will heat the whole house for a whole day in the winter.
This cannot be TRUE, and must be some satirical piece without proper labeling, We all know That the MASSIVE GLOBAL WARMING means No More WINTERS and Cold Weather, Just Ask Al Gore, he will tell you so.
I wonder if the rising energy costs are due to taking the nuclear power plants offline before an equal supply of energy from an alternate source could be brought online. I believe that many on FR predicted this. But then again, no much of a risky prediction. Almost like predicting the sun rising in the east.
LOL. Shut down your nukes, adopt wind and solar causing sky-high energy prices, and look what happens! You cannot repeal the Law of Unintended Consequences or revoke the Invisible Hand. It’s especially rich that people are turning to burning comparatively dirty wood instead of paying premium for wind and solar power!
Those kachelofens are pretty neat. I don’t understand why we don’t have them here in the US if they are so efficient at heating a home. I imagine you could build one yourself if you found a book on how to build them.
believe it or don’t but the wood pellets burned in Europe are made in the USA. There is a port handling facility, Savannah i think, that has the ability to load bulk carriers.
I spoke with a representative of the American company that makes the equipment to continuously sample the pellets to ensure they meet the spec.
We had a friend visiting from Switzerland. We drove him from Asheville, NC to Elizabethton, TN and along the way he was amazed to see all of the fallen trees just lying there, rotting away.
“In Switzerland, all of those would have been collected for firewood!” was his comment.
I did find a company in Talent, OR that sells them.
http://kachelofen-usa.net/
I also found a video of a kachelofen that can be retrofitted into an existing fireplace/chimney installation called Biofire (located in Ireland).
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x7ulTMDJG6w
Biofire is a natural wood burning log stove with a glass or metal door. Using wood supplied locally enables it to be carbon neutral with minimum processing and transportation involved. Biofire is an ideal sustainable energy heating system for homes in Ireland. It is suitable for new and existing buildings. The Biofire (KACHELOFEN) clay brick oven gives a 90%~ efficient clean radiant heat all day from only an hour and a half of burning. This video is narrated showing a retro fit Biofire into an existing chimney breast. It contains an oven on the reverse side facing into the dining room. Three rooms are heated with an addition convection vent leading out into the hall transmitting heat further down the house. The fascinating visual demonstration of the Biofire is evident in the burn process as the energy embodied in the wood is released. Within the core of the Biofire the gasses are also burned in an 8M long flame instead of being released into the atmosphere. Less than 1% ash is all that remains with only a need for to clean out once or twice year.
Ich bin ein Burntimber
Ich bin ein burl burner.
There are stories of British pensioners buying books in bulk like old encyclopedias to burn for warmth, because it was cheaper than wood and coal.
Still, they don’t get it. Two of the stories were about doing something about climate change before it’s “too late”, and green energy being the future. *sigh*
I wonder if they will start registering chainsaw owners to reduce firewood theft, and start cracking down on people with illegal chainsaws?
Scene from the Play and movie BECKET.
King Henry and Becket are caught out in a rainstorm and seek shelter in a hovel.
King Henry: GIVE ME FIRE AND WARMTH!
Becket: You will find no fire here sire.
Henry: And why is that!
Becket: Each hovel is allowed two measures of wood a year. One stick more and they are hanged.
Henry: My edict?
Becket: Your edict sire.
Then there is that scene in DR ZHIVAGO where he is stealing firewood for heat.
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