Biomass for London: wood fuel demand and supply chains

About the report

This report assesses the number and capacity of planned wood fuel plant in London and their potential fuel demand. It then examines the potential sources of fuel and makes recommendations for enabling the growth in fuel production from London’s own and near by resources.

Published December 2008
Pages 78

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Executive summary

There is a rising level of interest in wood fuel as a source of renewable heat and power in London due in large part to a planning requirement that 20% carbon emission reductions in larger developments are achieved through on-site renewable sources. The rate of wood fuelled boiler and combined heat and power (CHP) installations is expected to increase further as fossil fuel prices rise and new housing developments move towards the Government’s 2016 zero carbon target. However uncertainty remains about the availability of fuel for planned and projected installations. To date wood fuel supply infrastructure in London is rudimentary, particularly for wood chip.

This report assesses the number and capacity of planned wood fuel plant in London and their potential fuel demand. It then examines the potential sources of fuel and makes recommendations for enabling the growth in fuel production from London’s own resources.  For some sources of wood fuel such as recycled timber processing capacity within 25 miles of London is considered. It does not cover the import of fuel into London from further afield.

The key finding of the report is that London has a potential wood fuel resource exceeding the requirements of currently planned wood fuel plant by a factor of 20 if not more.  However, a lot of this is waste wood which would require Waste Incineration Directive (WID) compliant boilers and for some of this wood, recycling and reuse might be better environmental options. In general, most of this resource is not available now and policies and support frameworks need to be put in place to ensure London can better develop its wood fuel supply chain.

A substantial increase in wood fuel boilers/CHP would have air quality implications in London. It is beyond the scope of this report to address this issue in any detail but it is recognised that more work is needed to ensure that climate change mitigation objectives are balanced with concerns about other emissions.

Principal recommendations:

• A publicly available biomass installations database needs to be established and
• regularly updated, covering installed and proposed units.
• More research to be carried out into the air quality implications of increased biomass use building on the results of the London Councils’ assessment published in December 2007*. This should lead to regulations on permitted emissions levels in boilers in urban areas.
• For SMEs: opportunities for wood fuel production are publicised through the biomass installations database, trade journals and networks and the development of production is supported through demonstration units and capital grants.
• For construction and demolition timber: a programme to trial separation of clean from contaminated wood and support for small scale WID** compliant CHP systems.  However, there is a need to ensure that this does not compete with recycling or reuse, where they are the better environmental options.
• Training should be provided for wood recyclers so they can meet the tighter wood chip specifications for smaller boilers. This training should be delivered by existing wood fuel supply providers in advance of supply contracts being concluded.
• For tree surgery arisings:
  1. Information about the business opportunity for wood chip and pellet production should be made available to tree surgeons through the biomass installations database, trade journals and networks
  2. Proactive support from local authorities for new facilities
  3. Capital grants for new production capacity that complements other support mechanisms such as Defra’s Bio-Energy Infrastructure Scheme.

* December 2007, Review of the Potential Impact on Air Quality from Increased Wood Fuelled Biomass Use in London, produced by AEA Energy & Environment for the London Councils
** Waste Incineration Directive

Download report PDF
........................................................................................................
BioRegional is a registered charity – if you would like to make a donation for this report please visit www.justgiving.com to do so securely on-line – suggested donation £4.00.  

Your support will help us to continue developing vital solutions for sustainable living.