Scientists find more efficient firewood

The Earth Science Agency helps produce science related to global warming. It also gives away logs made out of wax-coated vegetable and fruit boxes.

Last week, the agency - which guides scientists, businesses residents and local government "through the environmental revolution" - handed out $500 worth of Hot Logs outside its office on Kingsbury Grade.

"I think we gave away about 100," said Marcus Rothschild, the agency's marketing director. "We got a good response from the community."

The agency was hired by the owner of the Hot Logs Corp. in Oroville, Calif., to market the logs in the Carson-Tahoe area.

"Our competitor, Duraflame, uses a diesel fuel derivative," said owner Myles Decker, "The wax on our boxes is edible. When it burns, it burns very clean. It actually burns cleaner and hotter than firewood ... because the wax is so pure. We have the tests to prove it."

Decker said another advantage of his product is that it keeps the wax-coated boxes, which cannot be recycled because of the wax, from ending up in a landfill.

And for fruit and vegetable companies, of which there are plenty in California, it is cheaper to ship used boxes to Decker's Oroville plant than to pay the fee the dump charges.

"It costs $10 to $15 a ton for shipping and $100 a ton to dump the stuff," Decker said. "And there are so many vegetable and apple producers here in Northern California. We are in the biggest box area in the world."

Decker said the manufactured-log market is tough to break into, but his business has grown 150 percent a year since it was established four years ago.

"Next year, we'll do 1.5 million (logs)," Decker said. "Within a few years we'll be in the 10- to 15-million range."

The wax-coated boxes are cut into chips before a machine rolls them into logs. They burn for about three hours, and their retail price is cheaper than Duraflame's, Decker said.

At South Shore, the product is at Lira's Supermarket, The Roadrunner, Affordable Wood and Lawn Care, 7-Eleven on Emerald Bay Road and Scotty's Hardware on Lower Kingsbury Grade.