Britu zemniekiem parādījušās jaunas enerģētiskās koksnes kārklu plantāciju produkcijas noieta iespējas

"FARMERS' representatives have expressed delight at news that Drax Power Station intends to use more green fuels.
The station has said it would like to increase its annual consumption of biomass fuels to between one million and 1.5 million tonnes every year.
The main green fuels currently used are short rotation coppice willow and miscanthus - more commonly known as elephant grass.
Tony Holmes, chief executive of the Renewable Energy Growers group, said there were about 50 farmers in the group growing willow, and a few more who grow elephant grass.
About 70 per cent of them live in the Drax catchment area near Selby and York.
Mr Holmes said it was excellent news Drax wanted to increase its use of biomass fuels. "It gives farmers another good alternative crop to grow which is profitable.
"It's an alternative to what they are doing at the moment, it's a long-term crop, it's a good opportunity and good news for local farmers."
He said that Drax was aiming to increase its use of biomass fuels as quickly as possible, although it could be a few years for it to reach its uppermost target of 1.5 million tonnes.
The National Farmers' Union (NFU) has also praised Drax for its use of biomass fuels. Its regional press officer, Rachael Gillbanks, said short rotation coppice willow was harvested every three years, and chopped up and dried out before being sent to Drax - the UK's largest coal-fired power station.
She said: "Renewable Energy Growers have been working with Drax for a number of years to get this market up-and-running and it's really good news that Drax is continuing to invest in the equipment they need to burn biomass.
"Not only is it more environmentally-friendly, but it provides a market for farmers as well."

Oriģināls

Modernizēta tehnoloģija kārklu plantāciju pļaušanai un kurināmā gatavošanai, izmantojot salmu presēm līdzīgas iekārtas

"Willow is a fast-growing crop with a biomass potential between 10 and 20 t of dry matter (DM) per ha per year in a northern climate like Canada. Once established, willow reaches optimal yield under a 3-year cutting rotation. One method of harvesting is to cut and chip the whole plant for immediate use or wet storage. Alternately, willow can be cut and either bundled or baled for natural drying in storage. Near-commercial harvesters for willow are available to cut and chip with a forage-harvester platform. However, no commercial harvester of long-stem willow in the form of bundle or bale is available. Design criteria were developed to optimize cutting, perform light shredding and bale willow stems. A round baler was chosen as the harvesting platform. Modifications to the baler included replacing the narrow compression chamber belts by a single full-width belt to better contain the long stems within the chamber. A swing-pivot tongue was added to offset the baler from the tractor’s drive line. Four rotary saws, integrated in a disc mower frame, were installed in front of the baler. A modified hammer type shredder was placed between the saws and the baler to break the willow stems and make them more pliable. Five field trials were carried out in 2006 to test and improve various functional components of this novel willow harvester. By the end of the year, more than 90 round bales of willow had been harvested. The continuous bale forming capacity ranged from 8 to 12 wet t/h. Considering idle time, wrapping time and turning time, the actual harvest capacity would be in the range of 5 to 8 wet t/h. Bale size ranged from 0.99 to 1.54 m in diameter (fixed width of 1.22 m). Average moisture content of willow for the five trials ranged from 44 to 51%. Dry matter density ranged between 111 and 167 kg DM/m3 with a typical value of 140 kg DM/m³."

Oriģināls

ASV federālās valdības Lauksaimniecības departaments piešķīris 26 grantus (6,2 milj. $) meža biomasas izmantošanas enerģētikā izpētes projektiem

"NCSU Receives $247,802 Federal Grant for Renewable Energy

The Department of Forest at North Carolina State University will receive a grant worth $247,802 from the federal government for research into renewable energy and other products that can be developed from woody biomass.

The grant is one of 26 awarded by the Agriculture Department on Tuesday. The grants total $6.2 million.

The program is designed to help develop use of woody biomass from national forests.

Each of the 26 projects was required to provide at least 20 percent of other funding in order to qualify. Ninety-three community groups, universities and entrepreneurs applied for the grants.

"These grants help communities, entrepreneurs and others turn residues from forest restoration activities into marketable forest and energy products," said Agriculture Secretary Johanns in a statement. "Not only will these projects reduce the risk of wildfire, they will help us to achieve the President's energy goals.”

Oriģināls

Kompānijas Neste un Stora Enso apvienojušas spēkus, lai ķopīgi strādātu pie jaunas paaudzes biodegvielas ražošanas uzsākšanas no koksnes atliekām

"Neste Oil signed an agreement today with Stora Enso, an integrated paper, packaging, and forest products company, to join forces to develop technology for producing new-generation biofuels from wood residues to replace fossil fuels and cut greenhouse gases. The first step will be to design and build a demonstration plant at Stora Enso's Varkaus Mill in Finland. The plant, owned on a 50/50 basis by the two companies, is expected to start up in 2008 and will produce heat and electricity for use locally and crude biodiesel to be refined into commercial fuel at Neste Oil's refinery in Porvoo.
Expertise from Neste Oil, Stora Enso, and VTT Technical Research Centre of Finland will be utilized to implement the development phase and commercialize wood-based biofuel production. Neste Oil and Stora Enso see the growing biofuel market in Europe as a promising and sustainable business opportunity for meeting the increasing demand for premium-quality products made from a wide variety of feedstocks. The challenges related to generation of clean synthesis gas from wood will need to be solved before wood-based biomass can be used in biofuel production. The project will also focus on using Fischer-Tropsch process to produce crude biodiesel from gas.
The EUR 14 million demonstration plant will be integrated into the energy infrastructure of the Varkaus Mill, and the gas produced will equal the energy needed to heat 4,300 homes and cut local carbon dioxide emissions significantly.
Following the development phase and completion of the technical solutions, and after the partners have gained sufficient experience from the demonstration plant, the joint venture will build a full-scale commercial production plant at one of Stora Enso's mills. This facility will be owned on a 50/50 basis by the JV partners.
Stora Enso will be responsible for supplying wood biomass and utilizing heat generated. Wood biomass will be supplied from forests according to ecological preconditions. Neste Oil's responsibility will final refining and marketing of the biofuel.
The European Union has set a target of replacing 5.75% (18 million tons) of the fossil fuels used in transportation with biofuels by 2010 and 10% by 2020, This will mean replacing 30 million tons of fossil fuels and will require significant increases in biofuel production.
Developing wood-based biofuels is a logical step for Neste Oil and underpins the company's strategic goal of producing high-quality traffic fuels from a broad base of feedstocks. The project is designed to complement Neste Oil's biofuel portfolio. The company is currently commissioning its first plant to produce 170,000 t/a of NExBTL Renewable Diesel, a high-quality fuel offering excellent engine performance and low tailpipe emissions, from vegetable oil and animal fat at its Porvoo refinery in Finland. A second similar plant is also under construction at Porvoo."

Oriģināls

Apstiprina grozījumus ministru kabineta noteikumos par šķidro biodegvielu kvalitātes prasībām

Lai sekmētu biodegvielas ražošanu un biodegvielas izmantošanu transportā, Ekonomikas ministrija izstrādājusi grozījumus Ministru kabineta 2005.gada 18.oktobra noteikumos Nr.772 Noteikumi par biodegvielas kvalitātes prasībām, atbilstības novērtēšanu, tirgus uzraudzību un patērētāju informēšanas kārtību, kuri šodien, 15.martā, tika nodoti starpinstitūciju saskaņošanai.

Ar grozījumiem iepriekšminētajos MK noteikumos tiks noteiktas kvalitātes prasības, atbilstības novērtēšana, tirgus uzraudzība un patērētāju informēšanas kārtība rapšu sēklu eļļai, citai no eļļas augiem iegūtai augu eļļai, E 85 biodegvielai un biogāzei.
Noteikumu projektā iestrādātas kvalitātes prasības biodegvielai, biodegvielas maisījumiem ar fosilo degvielu, kā arī noteikta kārtība, kādā notiek minēto produktu atbilstības novērtēšana, kontrolējama biodegvielas ražošana un jaukšana ar fosilo degvielu, patērētāju informēšana un tirgus uzraudzība.

MK noteikumu grozījumu sagatavošanas procesā notika konsultācijas ar vairākām nevalstiskajām organizācijām - Latvijas Degvielas Tirgotāju asociāciju, Degvielas tirgotāju un ražotāju savienību, Latvijas biodegvielu asociāciju un Latvijas biogāzes asociāciju, kā arī ar Finanšu ministriju, Valsts ieņēmumu dienestu, Satiksmes ministriju un Zemkopības ministriju, Db.lv informēja Ekonomikas ministrija.

Zemkopības ministrijas preses relīze par viengadīgo energokultūru atbalsta mehānismu ieviešanu

"Valdība šodien akceptēja Zemkopības ministrijas (ZM) izstrādātos Ministru kabineta (MK) noteikumus „Kārtība, kādā administrē un uzrauga Eiropas Savienības atbalstu enerģijas kultūraugiem”. Dokuments nepieciešamas, lai nodrošinātu atbalstu lauksaimniekiem par kultūraugu ar augstu enerģētisko vērtību audzēšanu jau no šī gada, kā arī nodrošinātu enerģijas kultūraugu savācēju un pārstrādātāju atzīšanu.

ZM izstrādātajā normatīvajā aktā noteikta kārtība, kādā tiek atzīti enerģijas kultūraugu savācēji un pirmie pārstrādātāji, kā arī noteikti savācēju un pirmo pārstrādātāju pienākumi.

Tāpat dokumentā noteikti pienākumi enerģijas kultūraugu savācējam un pirmajam pārstrādātājam, uzglabājot informāciju par enerģijas kultūraugu iepirkšanas un pārstrādes procesu, kā arī savācēju un pirmo pārstrādātāju kontroles kārtība. Noteikumos arī norādīta kārtība, kādā tiek publicēta informācija par atzītajiem savācējiem un pirmajiem pārstrādātājiem. Bez tam arī uzskaitīti Lauku atbalsta dienesta (LAD) pienākumi, izvērtējot savācēju un pirmo pārstrādātāju atzīšanas pieteikumus, nepieciešamības gadījumā veicot attiecīgo enerģijas kultūraugu savācēju un pirmo pārstrādātāju pārbaudi uz vietas un pieņemot lēmumu par savācēju un pirmo pārstrādātāju atzīšanu.

Savācēju un pārstrādātāju atzīšanas sistēma nepieciešama, lai būtu pārliecība, ka piegādātie enerģijas kultūraugi tiek pārstrādi enerģijas produktos.Noteikts, ka LAD līdz 2007.gada 15.aprīlim, kā arī turpmākos gadus līdz katra gada 15.decembrim laikrakstā „Latvijas Vēstnesis” publicē informāciju par atzītajiem savācējiem un pirmajiem pārstrādātājiem. Tāpat arī ZM līdz katra gada 15.aprīlim laikrakstā „Latvijas Vēstnesis” publicē informāciju par reprezentatīvo ražu enerģijas kultūraugiem, kurus pārstrādā atzītie savācēji un pirmie pārstrādātāji."

Saraksts ar celulozes bioetanola rūpnīcām, kuru būvniecību finansiāli atbalstīs ASV Enerģētiskas aģentūra

• Abengoa Bioenergy Biomass of Kansas, LLC of Chesterfield, Missouri, up to $76 million. The proposed plant will be located in the state of Kansas. The plant will produce 11.4 million gallons of ethanol annually and enough energy to power the facility, with any excess energy being used to power the adjacent corn dry grind mill. The plant will use 700 tons per day of corn stover, wheat straw, milo stubble, switchgrass, and other feedstocks.
• ALICO, Inc. of LaBelle, Florida, up to $33 million. The proposed plant will be in LaBelle, Hendry County, Florida. The plant will produce 13.9 million gallons of ethanol a year and 6,255 kilowatts of electric power, as well as 8.8 tons of hydrogen and 50 tons of ammonia per day. For feedstock, the plant will use 770 tons per day of yard, wood, and vegetative wastes and eventually energycane, a tall, stiff stemmed bunchgrass.
• BlueFire Ethanol, Inc. of Irvine, California, up to $40 million. The proposed plant will be in Southern California. The plant will be sited on an existing landfill and produce about 19 million gallons of ethanol a year. As feedstock, the plant would use 700 tons per day of sorted green waste and wood waste from landfills.
• Broin Companies of Sioux Falls, South Dakota, up to $80 million. The plant is in Emmetsburg, Palo Alto County, Iowa, and after expansion, it will produce 125 million gallons of ethanol per year, of which roughly 25 percent will be cellulosic ethanol. For feedstock in the production of cellulosic ethanol, the plant expects to use 842 tons per day of corn fiber, cobs, and stalks.
• Iogen Biorefinery Partners, LLC, of Arlington, Virginia, up to $80 million. The proposed plant will be built in Shelley, Idaho, near Idaho Falls, and will produce 18 million gallons of ethanol annually. The plant will use 700 tons per day of agricultural residues including wheat straw, barley straw, corn stover, switchgrass, and rice straw as feedstocks.
• Range Fuels, formerly Kergy Inc., of Broomfield, Colorado, up to $76 million. The proposed plant will be constructed in Soperton, Treutlen County, Georgia. The plant will produce about 40 million gallons of ethanol per year and nine million gallons per year of methanol. As feedstock, the plant will use 1,200 tons per day of wood residues and wood based energy crops.

Plašāka informācija

Sekvenēts celulozes fermentēšanā izmantojamo sēņu, Pichia stipitis, genoms

"“Increasing the capacity of P. stipitis to ferment xylose and using this knowledge for improving xylose metabolism in other microbes, such as Saccharomyces cerevisiae, brewer’s yeast, offers a strategy for improved production of cellulosic ethanol,” said Eddy Rubin, DOE JGI Director. “In addition, this strategy could enhance the productivity and sustainability of agriculture and forestry by providing new outlets for agricultural and wood harvest residues.”

On the road to making biofuels more economically competitive with fossil fuels, there are significant potholes to negotiate. For cellulosic ethanol production, one major detour has being addressed with the characterization of the genetic blueprint of the fungus Pichia stipitis, by the U.S. Department of Energy Joint Genome Institute ( DOE JGI ) and collaborators at the U.S. Forest Service, Forest Products Laboratory ( FPL ). The research, entailing the identification of numerous genes in P. stipitis responsible for its fermenting and cellulose-bioconverting prowess, and an analysis of these metabolic pathways, is featured in the March 4 advanced online publication of Nature Biotechnology.

P. stipitis is the most proficient microbial fermenter in nature of the five-carbon “wood sugar” xylose—abundant in hardwoods and agricultural leftovers, which represent a motherlode of bioenergy fodder.

“Increasing the capacity of P. stipitis to ferment xylose and using this knowledge for improving xylose metabolism in other microbes, such as Saccharomyces cerevisiae, brewer’s yeast, offers a strategy for improved production of cellulosic ethanol,” said Eddy Rubin, DOE JGI Director. “In addition, this strategy could enhance the productivity and sustainability of agriculture and forestry by providing new outlets for agricultural and wood harvest residues.”

Ligonocellulosic biomass, a complex of cellulose, hemicellulose, and lignin, is derived from such plant-based “feedstocks” as agricultural waste, paper and pulp, wood chips, grasses, or trees such as poplar, recently sequenced by DOE JGI. Under current strategies for generating lignocellulosic ethanol, these forms of biomass require expensive and energy-intensive pretreatment with chemicals and/or heat to loosen up this complex. Enzymes are then employed to break down complex carbohydrate into sugars, such as glucose and xylose, which can then be fermented to produce ethanol. Additional energy is required for the distillation process to achieve a fuel-grade product. Now, the power of genomics is being directed to optimize this age-old process.

“The information embedded in the genome sequence of Pichia has helped us identify several gene targets to improve xylose metabolism,” said Pichia paper lead author Thomas W. Jeffries of the Forest Products Laboratory in Madison, Wisconsin. “We are now engineering these genes to increase ethanol production.” Jeffries said that yeast strains like Pichia have evolved to cope with the oxygen-limited environment rich in partially digested wood that is encountered in the gut of insects, from where the sequenced strain was originally isolated.

FPL has a Cooperative Research and Development Agreement ( CRADA ) in place with a New York City-based bioenergy company, Xethanol Corporation, which plans to integrate Dr. Jeffries’ findings into its large-scale biofuels production processes.

Pichia joins white rot fungus in the growing portfolio of bioenergy-relevant fungus genomes sequenced by DOE JGI through its user programs and contributed freely to the worldwide scientific community."

Oriģiāls

Skotijā meklē zemniekus, kas vēlas audzēt īscirtmeta kārklu plantācijas

"Scottish Biofuel, part of the Scottish Resources Group that produces more than 3.5 million tonnes of coal annually, is seeking farmers prepared to grow willow as short-rotation coppice.

The market is driven by legislation that makes it a requirement that 25% of any wood fuel used must come from an energy crop by 2009 in order to receive a renewable obligation certificate for coal-fired electricity generators. That requirement rises to 75% by 2011.

Scottish Biofuel intends to build a processing plant at Westfield in Fife by 2010. It is adjacent to a proposed power station that will be fuelled by wood. The processing plant will also produce wood pellets for the domestic heating market. Elsewhere the willow will be blended with coal for burning in traditional coal-fired generators.

Energy cropping on previous grass fields is now a reality. The market signals could hardly be better, with long-term government policy to develop renewable fuels and local planning authorities strongly favouring new developments involving sustainable fuel sources.

Short-rotation coppice-based willow is recognised as the most suited for Scottish soils.

The farmer provides land that has been prepared for planting and makes a contract with a suitable energy company such as Scottish Biofuel. That ensures a guaranteed market for at least 10 years that can be extended to 25 years or more to cover the lifetime of the crop. Sewage sludge can be profitably incorporated into the seedbed at this stage. A planting grant of £1000 per hectare is available which, along with the contributions of the energy company ensures that the farmer has little or no outlay after the field cultivation.

During the first year the crop will grow up to two metres and is then cut back to ground level to encourage coppicing that is akin to tillering in grass and cereals. Thereafter the crop should grow at rates of two metres or more per year to be ready for harvesting every three years.

Scottish Biofuel arranges all the contract harvesting and typical yields of 45 tonnes per hectare can be expected giving a gross output of about £700 per hectare every three years.

There are little or no variable costs associated with the crop after the establishment year so the average annual gross margin should be around £240 per hectare, comparing well with many grassland-based enterprises.

The main attraction for many will be the low level of overheads. With the harvesting operation handled by Scottish Biofuel, there is no need for buildings, machinery or labour."

Oriģināls

Šogad lauksaimnieki varēs pieteikties Eiropas Savienības atbalstam par enerģijas kultūraugiem

Šā gada pirmajā pusē lauksaimnieki varēs pieteikties Eiropas Savienības (ES) atbalsta saņemšanai par enerģijas kultūraugiem. Paredzēts, ka atbalsta apjoms būs 45 eiro uz hektāru, tomēr šis nosacījums var tikt proporcionāli samazināts, ja ES mērogā atbalstam pieteiks vairāk platības nekā noteiktais maksimums, kas ir 2 miljoni hektāru.
Februārī Eiropas Komisija (EK) akceptēja izstrādātos grozījumus regulā, kas dod iespēju ieviest vienkāršotāku enerģijas atbalsta shēmu, paredzot dalībvalstīm izvēli aizstāt garantiju naudas sistēmu ar atzīšanas sistēmu. Tas nozīmē, ka lauksaimniekiem, kuri vēlēsies saņemt atbalstu, būs jānoslēdz izejmateriālu piegādes līgums ar atzītiem enerģijas kultūraugu savācējiem vai pirmajiem pārstrādātājiem.
Šobrīd Zemkopības ministrija (ZM) izstrādā Ministru Kabineta (MK) noteikumu projektus „Kārtība kādā administrē un uzrauga Eiropas Savienības atbalstu enerģijas kultūraugiem” un „Kārtība, kādā tiek piešķirts Eiropas Savienības atbalsts par enerģijas kultūraugiem”.
Normatīvo aktu izstrāde nepieciešama, lai ZM varētu ieviest atzīšanas sistēmu un īstenotu ES atbalsta piešķiršanu par enerģijas kultūraugiem 2007.gadā.
Lai informētu par enerģijas kultūraugu atbalsta shēmas nosacījumiem visas tajā iesaistītās puses – audzētājus, savācējus un pirmos pārstrādātājus - Zemkopības ministrijā, Republikas laukumā 2, 7.martā, pulksten 15:00 tiek organizēta informatīva sanāksme.

ASV Enerģētikas aģentūra finansiāli atbalsta pirmās komerciālās celulozes etanola ražotnes izveidi

"Range Fuels Inc. said Wednesday the U.S. Department of Energy has awarded the company up to $76 million to build the first commercial cellulosic ethanol plant in the country.
Broomfield, Colo.-based Range Fuels -- which was founded by Menlo Park-based Khosla Ventures -- said it received the grant following a rigorous competitive process that included a detailed technology review, an assessment of the availability of renewable and sustainable cellulosic feedstock, and an evaluation of its ability to successfully commercialize and replicate the project at other locations.
The plant will produce ethanol from wood chips from unmerchanteable Georgia pine trees and forest residues, and will be located in Soperton, Ga., about 100 miles west of Savannah.
The company said its technology transforms otherwise useless products such as wood chips, agricultural wastes, grasses, cornstalks and more into ethanol through a thermo-chemical conversion process.
The company is privately held and funded by Khosla Ventures."

Oriģināls

Etanola ražošanas no graudaugiem (cietes) un celulozes priekšrocību un trūkumu analīze

"There are a lot of other reasons to resist the lure of grain ethanol as a biofuel, here are just a few: (1) It takes one gallon of fossil fuel to produce 1.3 gallons of grain ethanol (not much gain); (2) Corn grain ethanol production promotes soil erosion (20 pounds of soil lost per gallon of ethanol); (3) The amount of corn required to fill one 25 gallon tank of gas could feed an person for a year; (4) Corn is an important export to developing countries, diversion to ethanol production may strain our capacity to supply these countries; (5) Ethanol cannot be transported by pipeline; (6) Ethanol plants demand large volumes of water and generate waste water.

The other major biofuel slated for development is cellulosic ethanol which is produced from logging residues and biomass crops. Cellulosic ethanol has a positive energy balance (about 5:1 units of ethanol per unit of fossil fuel), stores carbon, and can be produced from crops that actually protect soils. Unfortunately, cellulosic ethanol is not yet commercially available, thus the nation must go from zero to 25 billion gallons cellulosic ethanol in ten years.

Cellulosic ethanol requires a lot of biomass and thus a lot of land. It would take approximately 306 million tons of cellulosic biomass to produce 25 billion gallons of ethanol."

Oriģināls

ASV Enerģētikas aģentūra (DOE) finansiāli atbalsta vairāku celulozes bioetanola ražotņu izveidi

"Abengoa Bioenergy, based in Chesterfield, Mo., is one of six companies chosen to receive a piece of up to $385 million in U.S. Department of Energy funds over the next four years to develop cellulosic ethanol biorefineries.
Cellulosic ethanol can be made from any number of biomass sources, including agricultural waste, trees, forest residues and perennial grasses.
Abengoa vice president Christopher Standlee said the cellulosic plant will be in Kansas but not in Colwich, where the company operates a grain-fed ethanol plant and has plans to build a new one.
Standlee said Abengoa made an agreement with Colwich during rezoning negotiations that it would not locate a biomass plant there.
Standlee said the company has several locations in mind and will make a decision soon. He said plans are to have the plant under construction by the end of 2008 and online in 2010.
Abengoa will build a smaller "hybrid" plant along with a larger grain-fed facility, Standlee said. The plant will use about 700 tons a day of corn stover, wheat straw, grain sorghum stubble, switchgrass or other feedstocks.
The company will receive about $76 million in federal funds to help with the effort. Standlee said the total project will be an investment of about $300 million.
"This is very good news for us," he said. "It has become obvious that for ethanol... to have a major impact on fuel consumption, cellulosic production will be essential. We will continue to have a major presence in grain fermentation, but it is very exciting to be on the leading edge of cellulosic production."
Abengoa also plans to produce its own energy from biomass to power the cellulosic plant and will use any additional energy produced at the grain plant.
In selecting Abengoa, the DOE said the project comes from a "committed long-term player that has the potential to demonstrate dual biochemical and thermochemical capabilities."
Additional plants receiving grants will be located in Florida, California, Iowa, Idaho and Georgia."

Oriģināls

Granulu izmantošana Lielbritānijā nelielas jaudas un individuālās siltumapgādes sistēmās

"Alternative energy sources, such as solar power, tidal power and wind power, are often derided by critics as expensive, impractical or even (in the case of wind turbines) damaging to the environment. But there is another little-discussed alternative which can be used both as a fuel and to provide electricity.
It is widely available, easily renewable and carbon-neutral. And unlike wind and solar power, it provides energy on demand rather than intermittent energy dependent on the weather.
This revolutionary material is wood. Banish from your mind the thought of a homely log fire. Often referred to as biomass - because it is a combustible product of biological origin - wood fuel these days comes in the form of dried pellets, 15mm long and 6mm in diameter.
Pellets provide twice as much energy as wet wood - 1kg of wood pellets provides as much heat as a 1 kilowatt electric fire running for five hours. They are burned in specially adapted boilers that can be used both in ordinary homes and in large buildings to fuel central heating systems.
Widely used in Germany, Austria and Scandinavia, wood pellets have been slow to find a market in the UK. But what exactly is so good about wood? "It's a renewable fuel, because obviously you can plant more trees," says Laura Yates, a climate campaigner at Greenpeace. "And it's effectively carbon-neutral, because trees and plants suck up carbon dioxide when they grow and then emit that same amount of carbon dioxide when they're burnt."
Helped by funding from the Regional Development Agency, Nottinghamshire County Council has over the past three years replaced coal-fired boilers in 15 of its schools with wood pellet boilers. There are now plans to install them in 27 more schools, which will result in an additional reduction of carbon dioxide emissions of 3,000 tonnes a year.
Having achieved its aim, agreed with government, of reducing carbon emissions by 27% by 2006, the authority's long-term aim is to become carbon-neutral in terms of the energy it uses in buildings. It uses other renewable sources, such as wind turbines and hydro-electricity but, says energy manager Alan Allsop, "the best carbon savings per money spent come from the biomass boilers".
The amount the council spends on wood fuel has now grown so much that it has had to put the supply of wood pellets out to tender. This was won last year by the Energy Crops Company, a Surrey-based business founded in 2005. Energy crops is partnering with Biojoule, which is building a new pellet mill in Nottinghamshire that will produce 10,000 tonnes of pellets a year.
Biojoule is sourcing most of its wood from local farmers, who are growing willow, a short-rotation coppice that takes three years to grow and can then be harvested yearly. About 30% of each tree goes to make pellets; the rest is bark or made into planks. Each tree will produce about three tonnes of pellets - enough to keep 200 homes warm for a week.
The wood is broken down into sawdust and then dried, before being forced through a die to make it into pellets and then cooled and stored. A particle of wood takes about two hours to go through the whole process.
New trees will be planted to replace the ones burned, making the wood pellets a carbon-neutral source of energy. What of the cost to users? Compared with oil boilers, which cost between £1,000 and £2,000, wood pellet boilers are expensive, costing between £4,000 and £9,000. They are still cheaper than wind turbines, however - which, per unit of capacity, cost roughly 100 times as much as wood pellet boilers.
Per unit of delivered energy, wood pellets start to look more attractive. At 2.5p per kilowatt hour (kWh), wood pellets are more expensive than coal (2p per kWh) and gas (2.2p kWh) but cheaper than oil (3.5p per kWh) and electricity (6.5p per kWh). People who had previously used oil boilers can expect payback on their investment within about five years, says Graham Hilton, chief executive of Energy Crops.
Cassop School in Durham replaced its old oil boiler with a wood pellet boiler from 3GEnergi three years ago, and head teacher Jim McManners says the school has saved £2,000 a year. Apart from initial teething troubles, he says, the practicalities of using a wood pellet boiler have been no different from those involved in using an oil boiler.
There are downsides. Wood's energy density is about two-thirds that of coal, and half that of oil; you need more wood to get the same amount of energy. Regulations on oil storage, however, require that oil containers are held within a secondary containment system, such as a bund, that will hold any oil that has escaped from its container. This bund must be able to hold at least 110% of the volume of any single container in the storage area, so the storage area used to keep the wood is the same as for oil, says Hilton.
Wood pellets are often imported from Scandinavia, adding to the environmental cost, but this will be reduced as more pellets are produced in this country. Another potential drawback is that land used for growing trees could otherwise be used for crops - although, as Hilton points out, willow tends to grow on land that is unsuitable for crop growing.
Yates believes we can reduce the environmental impact further by burning wood that would otherwise end up in landfill: "We should be making sure that all forestry waste is put to use, not just left to rot because then it produces methane, which is a very potent greenhouse gas." She also advocates maximising efficiency by using wood, not only for fuel, but electricity.
Wood supplier Balcas, another Energy Crops partner, is doing just that. Based in Fermanagh, Balcas uses virgin sawdust and wood chips from its own timber processing activities to produce pellets. The pellets will be used in an onsite plant, now under construction, that will provide all its own heating and electricity needs, as well as supplying 10,000 homes in Northern Ireland.
Sourced locally or from waste timber, the case for wood as a carbon-neutral replacement for fossil fuels is compelling - and very simple. As Hilton says: "If you're not burning oil, you're not polluting the environment.""

Oriģināls