The government gets a green glow from renewable energy. It’s backing solar- and wave-power projects and has just given the green light for huge coastal wind farms. All this is very commendable, not least because it means the gales howling over The Wash, where hundreds of the wind turbines will sprout, will be doing something more constructive than simply giving holiday makers hypothermia, as they did in my childhood.
Meanwhile, as all this glamorous sci fi stuff hits the headlines and reaps the government ‘greenie’ points, the timber-combusting bio-fuel industry has been quietly getting on with the job of actually turning a renewable energy source into heat and light.
Technology enabling timber companies to use co-products to warm their plants or generate power has been around for years. But, as our feature this week highlights, it is now more advanced and accessible to a broader range of users. Manufacturers of combustion systems also flag up that the rising cost of landfill is cutting payback times on their products.
We are now also seeing larger scale wood-fuelled power plants being developed to provide energy to the wider community. The recent failure of the Arbre project highlighted that this is no licence to print money. Cautionary notes are sounded by the wood panel sector too, which fears the government’s dawning appreciation of biomass energy may result in grants for power plants skewing the wood chip market. TRADA also warns that, unless amended, proposed new emission rules could outlaw some types of timber-fuelled boiler.
But, these concerns aside, the general view is that the use of wood as a bio-fuel is set to grow, with the increase in UK softwood harvest providing further momentum. And many feel that this should boost the timber sector’s image as well as its bottom line. They predict that as the message spreads that its co-products are as environmentally beneficial as its products, market perceptions of the business will improve.
One high profile consumer who already seems to be warming to the subject is Prince Charles. It’s reported that his Highgrove home and, no doubt, the glasshouses where he banters with the begonias, may soon be heated by a biomass boiler.
