BIFF April Update - Wood As A Fuel

Woodfuel has been steadily gaining popularity in the UK over the past few years. Dan Gates, Woodfuel Officer for the Forestry Commission Scotland, has been promoting the use and production of woodfuel for the last couple of years. He has recently been assisting with the Scottish Biomass Support Scheme. This grant scheme attracted 130 applicants from around Scotland with 74 applications being successfully funded from the £10.5M grant budget that was available.

It is anticipated that the projects will result in carbon savings of 37,000 tonnes per annum and support up to 50MW of green energy production. This grant is now closed but as the use of woodfuel boilers increases so will the demand for woodchip. You may wish to supply woodchip or, if your woodland area is large enough, you may find it financially beneficial to install your own woodfuel boiler.

Woodfuel boilers or heating systems can be fuelled by woodchip, logs or pellets and are designed in a variety of sizes to suit any household or business. There is a wealth of information available to anyone who is interested. The Forestry Commission’s Woodfuel Officers have a website: www.usewoodfuel.co.uk and Forest Research has written a Woodfuel Information Pack, which is available online at:

http://www.forestry.gov.uk/website/forestresearch.nsf/ByUnique/INFD-6HXE9J or can be ordered from Andy Hall (andy.hall@forestry.gsi.gov.uk) or Duncan Ireland (duncan.ireland@forestry.gsi.gov.uk), both can be reached on 01387 860264.

If you would like more information on woodfuel you can contact Dan Gates on 07909 534739 or email dan.gates@forestry.gsi.gov.uk or Chris Stark, BIFF Project Officer on 01738 602043 or email chris.stark@forestry.gsi.gov.uk.