Comparison with Hybrid Cars

Wood pellets and gas consumption Wood pellets and oil consumption
Baseline Consumption Of Oil or Gas 500 gallons/yr 1,000 gallons/yr
Potential Means of Improvement Half emissions with hybrid
(function of vehicles - best case)		 Carbon neutral with biomass
(negligible CO, VOC, PM emissions)
Impact on Environment ~ 3 tons of CO2 reduction ~ 9 tons of CO2 reduction
Cost of Making Improvement $3,500 - 5,000 up front;
Annual savings of $500 - 750		 $2,000 - 3,000 up front cost;
Annual savings of $250 - 1,000
Cost per ton of CO2 reduction > $1,000/ton initially;
5 - 10 year payback		 < $250/ton initially;
3 - 8 year payback
Notes: We need to be pursuing all available methods of cutting carbon emissions. Government incentives for hybrids are not included in analysis above.
Sources: Baseline consumption for cars is based on ~10 gal/wk x 52 wks and for homes at 4 deliveries of 250 gal (rough examples of typical use) Carbon impact from carbon content of original fuels, with assumption that hybrid doubles gas mileage and biomass heating eliminates 75% of CO2 emissions Pricing differential for hybrids and pellet stoves from surveys of retailers; calculations of payback follow.