Wood heat

Are there any issues with wood heat?

What is wood heat?

Wood heat is the use of wood as a fuel to generate heat and electricity - similar to coal, oil and gas. However wood heat businesses can operate on a small scale, locally and based within the community, whereas the use of gas, oil and coal require large complex production and supply chains and the vast resources of large National Corporations. Wood heat is also environmentally friendly and can be described as carbon lean. This means that the carbon dioxide emitted when the wood is burnt is offset against the uptake of the carbon dioxide during the growth process of the trees. Gas, coal and oil are fossil fuels and when they are burnt they release harmful carbon emissions into the atmosphere.

What are the benefits of wood heat?

Wood fuel possesses the advantage of being more environmentally friendly then other fuel types such as coal and gas.
Wood is a renewable fuel; if correctly managed woodland can provide a reliable, sustainable source of fuel over a long period of time. If the correct husbandry techniques are the use of wood as a fuel will not deplete the natural resources of the environment. In fact, now that wood is seen as a vital economic resource, more woodlands are being planted and older woodlands are being managed after years of decay.
Recent technological advances have improved boiler efficiency, which means that today wood fuel boilers can function at 90% efficiency compared with older coal boilers which function at about 65% efficiency. Newly developed wood fuel boilers thereby minimise heat loss.
Communities which are not connected to the mains gas supply can use wood as an alternative fuel.
Wood fuel can stimulate rural diversification, providing new business opportunities for farmers and landowners and can lead to a source of employment.
Local production of wood fuel minimises haulage costs and subsequent carbon emissions.
Wood fuel can have considerable cost advantages over traditional heating fuels, especially considering the rise in gas and oil prices. Long term, fixed price contracts allow the buyer price stability.

Who are the end users of wood heat?

There are many types of potential users of wood fuel including commercial businesses, Schools, leisure Centres, large estates, hospitals and residential care homes. Wood is a suitable fuel to replace coal and oil and many coal boilers can be converted to handling wood pellets at relatively little cost.

In fact, Nottinghamshire County Council, partners of ReNU Ltd, have converted several School coal boilers to handling wood pellet fuel and these conversions have proved very successful with the efficiency of the boiler increasing significantly through burning wood pellets.

Are there any issues with wood heat?

Wood fuel heating is a new business and as a result there may be relatively few actors in each part of the market. This means that the market is less developed than traditional coal, oil and gas markets, however, wood fuel is increasingly in popularity. Fiscal incentives are available for the purchase of boilers and more suppliers are entering into the wood heat business thus building confidence in the security of the fuel supply.
To assess what your exact wood heat requirements are, you will need an expert to analyse your heating requirements. Many organisations offer feasibility studies free of charge or have funding to support these studies. A feasibility study is a good idea as it will allow you to understand whether the installation of a wood fuel boiler is practicable and what options are available to you at what cost.
It is advisable to make sure there is at least two suppliers in your near vicinity, since transport costs are an important issue. Sourcing wood fuel locally is good for the local economy and encourages local employment.

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