No N.H. entrants in annual design-a-better-wood-stove competition

There’s a Massachusetts firm among the 14 wannabe finalists for the 2018 Wood Stove Design Challenge, but nobody from New Hampshire made the list.

The competition is a sort of mini X-Prize-ish attempt to push innovation in an area that doesn’t get a lot of geeky interest – although advances that are making it feasible to create small-scale combined heat and power are making the situation more interesting. That’s exactly what the Massachusetts entry, from a company called  Caluwe in Burlington, Mass., aims to do:

The HKA 10 is revolutionary. With 9 kWel and 22 kWth, it is one of the smallest cogeneration plant of its kind. The wood gasifier and the CHP are located in one housing. This saves space and makes the system particularly compact. The high fuel flexibility is also refined. The energy bundle can be operated with natural wood chips, as well as with pellets and briquettes. With the HKA 10, you will be able to generate your own electricity and heat independently of fossil fuels and their constant price increases – this is highly efficient and environmentally friendly.