Memorandum submitted by Powys County Council
(Bio 01)
THE UTILISATION
OF WOODFUEL
FOR HEATING
1. The Scope of the Inquiry and this Paper
The term, bioenergy and the commonly used, biomass,
are not at all helpful to understanding or building public confidence.
A recent internal document of the European Commission suggested
that comparing the various technologies available under the term
"biomass" is not a matter of "apple and pears"
but "cows and trees". There is virtually nothing in
common between an anaerobic digester utilising agricultural wastes,
a wood pelletiser and a bio-diesel plant—other than that
they are all producing renewable fuels. The processes that produce
that fuel are hugely different, the raw materials are different
and the end use different. It is not difficult to understand why
the Committee has chosen to frame its inquiry as it has but neither
would it be surprising if the range of evidence ends up being
difficult to manage. This submission concentrates upon two fuels
that derive from timber—wood chips and wood pellets, and
refers to them both as woodfuel. A third type of woodfuel—logs,
is not further mentioned as it is not very often used in the most
efficient modern automated boilers.
2. Scope for Utilising Woodfuel in the UK
We, in mid Wales have drawn huge inspiration
from our long-time partners in Upper Austria where there has been
a massive boom in woodfuel heating over the last eight years or
so. Well over 30% of Upper Austria's energy use comes from renewable
sources and almost all of the growth is in the solar, and particularly
woodfuel sectors. Almost 50% of all new homes have wood pellet
heating systems and more than 300 woodfuel district heating networks
exist. Whilst there are reasons why this level of achievement
and growth may not attainable in the UK, there is sufficient evidence
from Austria to say that some of it could be ours given the right
level of support.
2.1 The forestry industry is stronger in
Austria, and the level of tree cover higher but there are still
fairly obvious examples in the UK where the type of integrated
pellet production and combined heat and power operations could
not be developed at saw mills. The Balcas plant in Northern Ireland
could be the first of many if the market was supported adequately.
2.2 It is standard for Austrian houses to
have cellars/basements and this is the normal location for the
wood pellet boiler and fuel store. The UK situation is clearly
different but there are still many opportunities for adapting
or adding outhouses or extensions—the fuel store can be
up to 20 metres from the boiler.
2.3 As has been demonstrated in mid Wales
amongst other places in the UK there is considerable scope for
the utilisation for woodchip boilers for heating larger buildings
such as schools or offices. There is no shortage of fuel for the
existing level of demand without resorting to especially grown
material. Two small local saw mills for instance are competing
to supply Llandrindod High School and Leisure Centre with woodchip
fuel, whilst the Ceredigion Council Offices in Aberaeron are utilising
waste material from a fencing stake production unit. If we establish
a growing and confident woodfuel market on what we have now, we
can easily grow more to meet rising demand.
3. The Cost-effectiveness of Woodfuel
The evidence from mid Wales is that it is the
capital cost of woodfuel boilers that is the stumbling block to
wider implementation. The revenue costs of woodchip are now below
oil and bottled gas and close to mains gas. Pellets too are out-competing
oil and lpg—the issue here is their availability and support
is needed in this sector. The evidence from Austria and Germany
is that woodfuel prices are relatively stable whilst the fossil
fuel prices are extremely volatile.
4. Comparing Woodfuel to other Fuels with
Respect to Carbon Savings
Woodfuel is usually deemed to be carbon neutral
so long as the material comes from sustainable sources and thus
it is only the processing and transport costs that need to be
considered as generating carbon. There is obviously huge advantage
in utilising any woodfuel as close as possible to its point of
production and in using as little energy as possible in processing.
Woodchip fuel is best produced from naturally seasoned small diameter
round-wood or saw mill waste. Modern boilers can tolerate quite
high moisture content so there is no need to artificially dry
the timber. Wood pellets do need more processing but the resultant
fuel is relatively dense and dry.
4.1 Apart from biogas, or conceivably renewable
electricity, there is no other currently available renewable heating
fuel. Solar (thermal) energy can be used to top up another fuel
but it is not yet able to provide the whole load for other than
the most super-insulated of ecobuildings. Ground (or air or water)
source heat pumps are often sold as being "renewable"
but are completely reliant upon another fuel source to power the
heat pump. Unless the electricity comes from a renewable source,
the heat pump does little other than reverse the inefficiencies
of production and transmission.
4.2 Woodfuel quite clearly out-competes
natural gas, lpg, oil, coal and electricity in terms of reducing
carbon emissions. Even wood pellets imported from Canada would
be much more carbon efficient than any of the fossil fuel alternatives.
5. The Sustainable Production of Woodfuel
This is an area that is of some concern to many
of us. We would like for there to be a recognised "eco"
standard for woodfuel that reflects its means of production, harvesting,
processing and transportation. This will need to be flexible enough
to reflect the clear differences between crops grown on arable
or improved pasture land and those derived from woodland, forests
and (conifer) plantations. The standard should include fertiliser
and other inputs, protecting/enhancing bio-diversity during the
growing of the wood, leaving sufficient dead material behind following
harvesting, soil conservation and the protection of surface and
ground water. We would very much like to be involved with the
preparation of such a standard.
6. Impact of UK Government and EU on Woodfuel
Market
The impact to date in the UK has been pitifully
little and this arises by a general lack of awareness of the opportunities
and a seeming fixation on electricity. Even where woodfuel, or
other biomass for combustion crops, have entered the thinking
of Government it has usually been in the context of generating
electricity. This bias, along with a liking for the larger-scale,
has meant that combined heat and power options have been largely
ignored. Woodfuel and biofuels in general may be renewable but
they are not in infinite supply so why would one want to use them
inefficiently? Burning them in plant where most of the energy
is dumped in the form of waste heat makes no sense at all.
6.1 Utilising woodfuel in modern automated
boilers, with efficiencies up with their gas equivalents, to heat
homes, offices, schools and factories seems to be a much better
use of this precious renewable resource than generating electricity
at 30% efficiency. Investment by the government in supporting
the development of woodchip and pellet supply industries, as well
as assistance with capital costs and promotional activities would
be vital to the rapid growth of this technology in the UK. We
have an insight in this part of the world of the potential for
growth as we have seen a relatively high level of interest in
wood pellet and wood chip heating installations. We have benefited
hugely from various grant schemes that have utilised largely EU
money. We have also been greatly assisted, particularly on the
pellet side, by our contacts with Upper Austria. Almost all of
the growth is coming through the installation of Austrian boilers.
6.2 As for the impact of future government
action; this would appear to lie in the balance. The "Clear
Skies" grant was relatively easy for individuals to access
and provided easily understood grant aid towards automated woodfuel
systems. If this scheme is superseded in the manner threatened
in the consultation paper last year, or if there is a break in
grant availability, the slow growth in boiler sales will be severely
curtailed. The grant scheme needs to be expanded not curtailed.
There is enough experience in Wales, in association with our Austrian
partners, to clearly demonstrate that we could be on the verge
of a major growth in low-carbon heating systems utilising woodchip
and wood pellets but the industry needs support if it is realise
its full potential.
6.3 As is often the case with sustainable
development issues, the EU is ahead of the UK Government and it
is usually EU money that has been utilised here in mid Wales to
promote growth in this sector. We need the UK Government to wake
up to the opportunities.
7. The Level of Necessary Support
A grant of around 40% of capital costs would
probably be enough to see a very rapid growth in the installation
of woodfuel boilers. It should be virtually automatic with limited
bureaucracy, an approved list of boilers and installers and, very
importantly, a guaranteed life of the scheme of at least five
years. This would probably be enough to kick-start the industry
very well, including the development of woodfuel supply chains.
For a typical domestic installation the grant might be around
£4,000 which represents excellent value in bringing about
very effective carbon reduction measures, a reduction on fuel
imports and significant economic development spin-offs. The (Austrian)
pellet boiler manufacturer with probably the greatest level of
activity in the UK market will be building two new factories in
2006—such is the level of growth in business. Unfortunately,
neither factory will be in the UK.
7.1 In order to shift policy in the right
direction there needs to be realisation that this market exists
and can, potentially, make a huge contribution to hitting our
carbon reduction targets. A massive amount of energy goes into
heating our buildings and water and there is no serious renewable
alternative to woodfuel (with solar) at present. Once the opportunities
are understood then a shift in policy will follow. Support will
need to be given to the Energy Efficiency Advice and Energy Agency
network to deliver impartial advice at the local level and policy
measures need to be put in place that encourage planning authorities
and developers to favour woodfuel either with individual installations
or community heating networks.
8. Increasing the Supply of woodfuel
The woodfuel supply chain depends upon two basic
commodities both of which are often considered to be a bi-product
of the timber/forestry industry. Woodchip is supplied from small
diameter timber or saw mill waste slab-wood. It could also be
supplied (with rigorous controls) from clean waste wood from pallets
or construction projects, for example. There are also large tonnages
of chipped timber arising from pruning and felling along transport
corridors and in parks and gardens on a renewable basis. Where
competition arises for the utilisation of such timber it is usually
from the manufacture of fibre board and the like. If a source
of woodchip is not close to a manufacturing facility for such
products then transport costs often wipe its gate price. Pellets
are made from sawdust and shavings, and saw mills and timber processing
facilities are the obvious source of such material. Animal bedding
and equine arenas are some of the alternative uses and are relatively
high in value.
8.1 Given the bio-diversity and recreational
benefits and the huge net importation of timber into the UK, the
encouragement of further native tree planting would provide further
raw material for timber and the woodfuel bi-products. A buoyant
woodfuel industry would encourage the management of existing farm
woodlands, the exclusion of livestock—allowing regeneration,
and the thinning of plantations—providing a better end product
and ecologically richer and much more usable and attractive forests.
The expansion of the woodland cover in the UK would have significant
benefits in terms of the mitigation of the some of the problems
associated with climate change—particularly the slowing
of run-off to water courses during periods of heavy rainfall.
8.2 Short-rotation coppice probably has
its part to play too but the right opportunities need to be carefully
selected.
9. CONCLUSION
(AND EXECUTIVE
SUMMARY)
I. Woodfuel is a specific opportunity and
is very different to other technologies that come under the heading
"bioenergy" (which are also very different from each
other).
II. There is sufficient evidence from Austria
in particular, and the fledgling industry in the UK, that there
is tremendous potential for the displacement of, often imported,
fossil fuels with locally produced woodfuel.
III. The advantages in developing this industry
for the efficient production of heat energy from timber bi-products
are enormous. There is no obvious serious, commonly available,
renewable energy alternative although installing solar heating
in parallel has clear advantages.
IV. The technology should be supported through
government grant for boiler installations. This level of support
would be cost effective and would provide confidence to those
in business that are needed to invest in the fuel supply chain,
boiler manufacture, distribution, installation and servicing.
V. The technology should be promoted at
a local level using the existing and expanded network of energy
advice centres and energy agencies.
VI. The woodland and forest cover of the
UK should be expanded with the existing tree cover better managed.
Growing timber specifically for fuel should only be encouraged
in circumstances where the overall ecological benefits can be
established in advance.
VII. All woodfuel should be used as efficiently
as possible and should rarely, if ever, be used to generate electricity
without the productive utilisation of the "waste" heat.
Powys County Council
January 2006
Annex A
ENDORSEMENTS
1. Dulas Ltd. Dulas would certainly
like to support/endorse your report.We have seen an enormous growth
in the interest for our woodfuel heating solutions. This year
we expect a 100% increase in turnover in the woodfuel business,
which is still reliant on grant support.
2. Welsh Bio-Fuels Ltd. I am writing
to fully endorse your submission to the Parliamentary EFRA Committee
Inquiry into Bioenergy.
3. Glasu. (Leader+ group in Powys).
Glasu whole-heartedly supports your report.
4. Mid Wales Energy Agency. Please
include MWEA's endorsement too.
5. Organic Energy Company. We support
your paper concerning wood fuel heating in the UK.The market for
automated wood pellet boiler systems is small but growing rapidly,
we believe without capital grants to assist growth it will be
very difficult to achieve positive environmental changes. There
are also economic benefits to be considered, our company is expanding
to meet demand and increasing employment locally and nationally.
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