Glenlyon Woodfuel Initiative Underway
11.03.10
Glen resident and activist Tom Beels has been appointed Project Facilitator of the Glenlyon Woodfuel Initiative (GWI). This folloewd its successful application for funding from the Climate Challenge Fund for a seven month feasibility study researching the viability of consistently identifying and supplying a locally-sourced heating fuel for homes in the Glen.
The heating fuel would predominantly be wood from commercial plantations in Glenlyon which can sometimes be of relatively low economic value due to depressed UK timber markets, extraction costs and the remoteness of Glenlyon from a saw or paper mill. Various road restrictions concerning haulage do not help.
Woodfuel could also be sourced from currently under-managed coppice stands in Glenlyon and (in the long term) new coppice resources could be created throughout the glen. A range of grants is available for planting wood as an energy crop, and also for converting and harvesting existing woodlands for energy use. The initiative will be investigating these funding sources and a report will be produced in due course.
Wood Burning
The study will investigate how to make this woodfuel easily accessible to the population of the glen as a viable alternative to the expensive and unsustainable heating oil currently used by most people as a primary heat source in their houses. Lowering household use of heating oil is very probably the single most effective way of reducing carbon emissions in Glenlyon.
Burning wood to heat your house is relatively common in Nordic countries and across swathes of the continent, it was until fairly recent times pretty unusual in the UK.
The technology for burning wood has advanced tremendously in recent years and numerous designs and variations on the theme are available. Achieving thermal efficiencies of over 90% modern woodburning stoves (boilers) are more often geared at heating domestic hot water than being an actual heat source like a traditional stove. They provide essentially the same services as an oil boiler, heating water for radiators and washing.
Some of these, such as pellet and chip boilers, can be fully automated but require a processed timber product. Other types, such as gassifying log boilers, can burn less processed (so potentially cheaper) half meter logs but need more human input to feed them. Log boilers are often used in association with existing oil boilers, meaning that automatic heating can be maintained, but costs can be reduced by using logs to supplement the oil.
An early stage of the feasibility study has involved hiring a specialised woodfuel heating advisor to inform on matters such as;
? Potentially suitable systems for a particular property or perhaps even a number of properties linked to one system
? Likely fuel consumption of the above system.
? Costs involved and grants available.
Chicken & Egg
“Our project is very much in a Chicken and Egg situation in that, for the initiative to succeed we need people in the glen to buy woodfuel from us,” explained Tom. “For them to install this equipment they need to know that we can guarantee an economic and reliable supply of woodfuel to them. We are surrounded by suitable timber so one might think it would be possible to achieve this.”
He told Comment that one of the first parts of the study involves assessing the current housing situation in the glen (size, insulation, current heating system, fuel costs etc) and ensuring people are aware of the potential alternative heating options available to them (should a woodfuel supply be assured).
“This will allow us to gauge the initial potential demand in the glen and thus how much timber will be needed to meet and supply this demand. It will also clarify the woodfuel types we may produce - chips and logs are the main options - and the equipment we will need to process and supply these fuels,” he said.
Property Survey
The GWI has engaged the services of a highly experienced wood based heating systems advisor Bernd Pinamonti of Thermotec Ecosystems Ltd. Bernd will be available to survey a number of properties in the glen. In general, the higher a property’s oil costs, the more the owner will save by converting to wood. Numerous recent articles about owners of large properties and estates who have converted testify to this.
“We hope to start the heating surveys in April,” Tom continued. “We are actively encouraging applications from people who would be interested to see how woodfuel could, perhaps, benefit them.”
GWI will also be carrying out research into other areas that relate to the supply of woodfuel, such as extraction methods (trials of both a horse and a cable crane are planned), processing equipment, drying and storing wood or chips.
“We will also be looking at how the community can benefit in terms of capacity building, local employment and local economies,” Tom concluded
He would welcome applications from people in the Glen who would be interested in having their property surveyed by the heating engineer. He can be contacted on 01887 866291 sorbus@tiscali.co.uk
The GWI initiative has launched a blogsite where folk can kp up to date with progress:
http://glenlyonwoodfuel.blogspot.com/
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