Wood is generally used for space heating of buildings, hot water and steam production. It can operate on almost any scale, from domestic to large industrial. Most modern woodfuel systems are fully automated, very efficient and highly reliable.
What are the benefits of woodfuel heating?
Lower emissions
- When more wood is grown than is used as fuel there will be a balance between the absorption and emission of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere.
- Using woodfuel instead of fossil fuel therefore reduces carbon dioxide released into the atmosphere.
- Generating heat from recovered clean wood and tree prunings, reduces landfill, turning waste into an energy source.
Long term cost savings
- Using wood could save money in the long term. Boiler running costs compare with oil or gas boilers and Government grants may offset high installation costs.
Energy security, Food Security and Environmental Sustainability
- Wood is a reliable, competitively priced source of locally produced energy
- Our woodlands can support projected woodfuel demands without taking land out of agriculture.
- Woodfuel can sustain woodland management by utilising the parts of trees that previously no-one wanted. When woodland is cleared, Government regulations insist on replanting.
New Jobs
- New woodfuel supply chains will create local jobs and revitalise forest dependent businesses. Woodfuel works best at a local scale.
Air Quality and efficiency
- Modern woodfuel boilers (chip or pellet) are very efficient, easy to operate and produce only small amounts of smoke, ash and air pollutants.
More Wildlife and Landscape Conservation
- Cutting wood opens up woodlands for flowers, insects, birds and small mammals, including rare butterflies and threatened species such as dormice and nightingales.
- Cherished woodlands are seldom 'natural' but have developed thanks to a long history of management. New woodfuel markets will secure the future of historic wooded landscapes (e.g., the Weald, Chilterns).
Do we have the wood?
A quarter of the country's woodland is in South East England. Mobilising just half its sustainable yield (0.5 million tonnes per year) to replace fossil fuels could generate 5% of the region's renewable energy, saving 700,000 tonnes of CO2/year - equivalent to removing 29,000 cars from our roads.
Only 10% of potentially available woodfuel supply in the region is being used at present supporting just 24 woodfuel businesses.
What Key Factors should be considered?
As wood fuelled-heating systems burn solid, organic materials they will be considerably larger than an equivalently rated fossil-fuel plant. This affects:
- Fuel delivery.
- Fuel reception, storage, and extraction from storage to the boiler unit.
- The size of specialised biomass boiler unit.
- The need for ancillary equipment: e.g., chimney, heat storage, connecting pipe work etc.
What grants are there?
Please refer to www.biomassenergycentre.org.uk
Who do I go to next?
For an up to date list of contacts in your county please refer to our contact page.
Or contact the co-ordinator of the Woodheat Solutions Project.
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| Do's |
Don'ts |
- Carefully plan your fuel storage for quick and easy delivery
- Over the life of a boiler 80% of costs are fuel – efficient supply reduces fuel costs
- Contact local wood fuel suppliers as early as possible
- Understand quality standards, grading, size and moisture content before you start to produce fuel
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- Buy 'wood fuel' from anyone who offers without checking they know European Standards
- Install a boiler without first planning fuel store design and delivery logistics
- Use contaminated, dirty or wet wood fuel
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