& sponsored by: led by the 22 march 2011 1 matthew woodcock forestry commission england how...

1 & sponsored by:Led by the 22 March 2011

Matthew Woodcock

Forestry Commission England

www.woodheatsolutions.eu

How experience from Austria and Finland is helping build the woodfuel market in

south east England

Making Woodlands PayConference 22 March 2011


Getting to know each other:

• How many of you use wood already?– Open fire?– Wood burning stove?

• Does anyone own a wood?• Does anyone think cutting trees down is

bad?


What I plan to cover:

• What is Woodheat Solutions• Review the carbon cycle• Woodland resource in SE England• What was happening prior to WhS• How is the woodfuel evolving in SE England• Key lessons from WhS• Exemplar woodfuel installations in SE England• Woodfuel Standards• What next?


What is Woodheat Solutions?

AIM: Inspire investment in wood-based heat generation from under managed woodlands in England, Croatia and Slovenia drawing on the experience gained in Finland and Austria.

TIMEFRAME: 1 October 2008 to 31st March 2011

Project Partners:

Croation Forest Extension Service

Slovenian Forestry Institute

Technical Research Centre of Finland

Styrian Chamber of Agriculture and Forestry


Trees and the Carbon Cycle

Harvested wood:

• Locks up CO2 in buildings, furniture etc

• Releases CO2 to atmosphere when burnt

• Substitutes for fossil fuel use

• Helps mitigate climate change

Growing trees:

• Absorb CO2 from the atmosphere

• Mitigate climate change


Kents Downs

High Weald

Chilterns

SurreyHills

Cotswolds

NorthWessexDowns

South DownsNational ParkChichester

Harbour

Isle of Wight

New Forest National

Park

CranborneChase

andWest Wilts

Downs Woodlands

Forestry Commissionmanaged Woodlands

Woodland area: > 270,000 hectares> 140,000 ha of ancient woodland

> 35,000 ha managed by the Forestry Commission

Woodland Resource in south east England


Comparison to rest of England

Region Woodland Area % Woodland Cover

% of England’s total

woodland

South East 270,000 14.1 24.6

South West 212,000 8.9 19.3

East England 139,000 7.3 12.7

North East 103,000 12.0 9.4

West Midlands 99,000 7.6 9.0

North West 96,000 6.8 8.8

Yorkshire & the Humber

92,000 6.0 8.4

East Midlands 80,000 5.1 7.3

London 6,000 3.9 0.5

TOTAL 1,097,000 8.4 100


Major species in SE England:

OakAshBirchBeechSycamoreSweet chestnutPoplar

> 44,000 ha (16%)> 26,000 ha (10%)> 25,000 ha (9%)> 23,000 ha (8%)> 5,900 ha (2%)> 18,000 ha (2%)> 1,900 ha (>1%)

Scots pine > 23,000 ha (8%)Corsican pine > 6,000 ha

(2%)Norway spruce > 5,000 ha

(1.8%)Larch > 4,500 ha

(1.7%)Douglas fir > 3,800 ha (1.4%)

Note: this adds to just > 50% so lots of mixed woods!

Total broadleaf > 219,000 ha (81%) Total conifer > 51,000 ha (<19%)

Note: all figures drawn from NIWT (National Inventory of Woodland and Trees published in 2002. NIWT ‘2’ will shortly be available to update these figures.

Sweet chestnut coppice figures drawn from FC Bulletin 64 (published 1987)Existing production:• From 35,000 ha (40% conifer/60% broadleaves) the FC is harvest about 160,000m3 per year (approx 80% conifer)• Estimate similar amount is harvested from the other 235,000 ha (15% conifer/85% broadleaves). • Of these woods less than a third (by area) are subject to a grant scheme or felling licence


What’s the potential?

Traditional broadleaved

trees like beech and oak can

grow at 4m3 per ha per year

Conifers like Scots pine can grow at > 8m3 per ha per year

Traditional coppice species like sweet chestnut and

ash can grow at > 6m3 per ha per year


Potential for production:

• 270,000 ha

• All could grow at > 4m3 per ha per year

• = > 1,000,000 m3 per year

Salvage harvest after ice storm in Sweden

HALF THIS!


How much heat is this?

• 1 cubic metre of wood at 30% moisture content will provide > 2,000kWhrs heat

• So 500,000m3 of wood could provide > 1,000,000,000 kWhrs

• An average home uses about 15,000kWhrs yr

• So in South East England we could heat > 60,000 homes


South East England Woodfuel Strategy suggested targets by County

County WoodlandArea

(hectares)

%Woodland

cover

FCholding

(Hectares)

% ofwoodland

cover

Non FC holding(hectares)

Woodfuel Strategytarget by % non FC

woodland area(m3/yr)

WoodfuelStrategy

Suggested CountyTarget (m3/yr)

Berkshire 18,308 14.5 444 2.4 17,864 38,103 35,000

Buckinghamshire 17,573 9.4 1,753 10.0 15,820 33,743 33,000

Oxfordshire 18,235 7 629 3.4 17,606 37,553 35,000

Surrey 37,564 22.4 1,588 4.2 35,976 76,735 70,000

Hampshire 66,939 17.7 20,136 30.1 46,803 99,828 105,000

Isle of Wight 4,549 12 1,146 25.2 3,403 7,258 7,000

West Sussex 37,507 18.9 3,789 10.1 33,718 71,919 70,000

East Sussex 29,924 16.7 2,643 8.8 27,281 58,189 55,000

Kent 39,487 10.6 3,540 9.0 35,947 76,673 90,000

270,086 14.4 35,668 234,418 500,000 500,000


Lots of it undermanaged:

Didcot Power Station


West Dean- Village scale heat:


West Dean


Hoathly Hill Community

• Residential community of 27 homes and about 70 people• Heating originally by Calor gas• Set up their own woodfuelled district heating system in 2007• See their Blog: http://home.btconnect.com/hoathlyhill/hhr/blog.html


Lessons learnt by the community

• Invest in efficiency works first

• Invest in other renewables together e.g. electricity

• Beware of in-experienced M&E consultants

• Much cheaper for new build than retrofit

• Try to get more capital in up-front to reduce loan

costs

• Insist on good post-commissioning support

• It will take a year bed-in, fine-tune and learn


WhS Project stages:

1. Project management2. Engagement3. Entrepreneurship – Finnish Study

Tour4. Promoting and applying standards –

Austrian study tour and Roadmap5. Technical training6. Communications and Dissemination7. Common Dissemination


Wood is a little like crude oil, it can be refined into different

products, each of which suites a particular use

– just like diesel or petrol

Conventional logsWood ChipsWood Pellets

Woodfuel types:


Wood burning stoves:


Hybrid solutions

Wood fuel provides allhot water and spaceheating in winter

A combination of wood fuel and solar thermal work in the spring and autumn

Solar thermal provides all hot water in the summer


A good thermal store is critical

• Solar thermal generates a third of hot water needed (5.1 kWth)

• Multifuel stove/ back boiler generates remaining space heat needs to a maximum of 19.2kWth

• 4kWe immersion heaters provide ‘frostating’ and emergency back up


Solar Voltaic

PV generates 60 - 70% electricity needs (3.06kWp)


Batch Boilers:

• 30kW for 4 bed semi

• Installed for £7,000

• Uses > 12 tonnes of wood per year


Pellet Boilers:

& sponsored by: led by the 22 march 2011 1 matthew woodcock forestry commission england how...

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