6........................................................................NEWFuels; bringing high­quality wood fuel to theregion

4........................................................................NEWHeat, the north east biomass accelerationprogramme ­ the story a year on

7........................................................................Ignite woodfuel training ­ update

9........................................................................Woodswork ­ improving the skills of the forest sector

8........................................................................Northumberland fire group

10........................................................................Grants for the sector

11........................................................................About Northwoods

2........................................................................Welcome and staff update

nn oo rr tt hh ww oo oo dd ssnneewwssii nn ff oo rr mm ii nn gg tt hh ee NN oo rr tt hh EE aa ss tt '' ss TTrr ee ee aa nn dd TTii mm bb ee rr BB uu ss ii nn ee ss ss ee ss

Cover photo ­ Kielder forest in February

2 | summer 08 | northwoods news

Welcome and staff update

David Clubb enjoying theview from a tree in CocklePark (photo: The Journal)

Welcome to the latest edi­tion of Northwoods News. Wehave the usual updates onour projects, and also on thegrant situation in the region.There's plenty of activity witha surge of interest in ourwildfire management projects,and we are hoping that theRural Development Plan forEngland (RDPE) will shortlyhave the bioenergy projectannounced soon ­ it shouldmake a difference to the fuelsupply infrastructure in thenorth east.We have also had a few excit­ing developments with ourstaff complement here atCockle Park, with severalstaff emigrating (or returning!)to the antipodes, and newfaces coming in to replacethem.We have a new projectdirector following NeilHarrison's departure to NewZealand.Neil worked at Northwoodsfor 5 years, during which timehe made tremendous stridesin bringing new work toNorthwoods, and instrengthening itsprofessionalism and its imagewithin the region.

Neil has taken on a seniorrole with a company in NewZealand which importsbiomass boilers. He isextremely well­placed tosucceed in this position,given the experience he hasin fighting the corner ofbiomass in the UK, and wewish him every success in hisnew position.Our new project director isDavid Clubb, who has joinedus from his position as SeniorProject Manager at theCentre for SustainableEnergy in Bristol. There hewas responsible for runningthe two regional flagshipprojects relating to biomass ­the market accelerationprogramme called Bioheat,and the CoordinatedWoodfuel Initiative, whichfocused on smaller­scale in­stallations.David is pleased to be joiningan organisation with thereputation of Northwoods. "Iwas lucky enough to haveworked with Neil before heleft, and I know that he will bean extremely tough act tofollow."I'm looking forward tocontinuing Neil's good work insupporting the forestry andbiomass sectors in the north

northwoods news | summer 08 | 3

Ethan taking part in a con­trolled burn

east, as well as helpingdevelop new projects aimedat supporting all forms of rurallivelihood."David is joined at Northwoodsby our new Project Officerwho will be working on ourwildfire projects, Ethan Bi­gelow.Ethan is replacing Marc Baren­drecht who has been workingwith us for several years.Marc has made a huge im­pact on the organisation, andhas been a prime mover inraising the importance of wild­fire management to theforestry and land manage­ment sectors in the north eastand further afield. He will bereturning to his nativeWestern Australia, and wewish him the very best backhome.Ethan brings to Northwoods awealth of experience in wild­fire management, obtainedfrom his position as an incid­ent commander in Oregonand Arizona."This is a great time to beworking in the UK on wildfiremanagement" says Ethan."It's great to see awarenessin the need for preparation forfire management increasingat all levels in land manage­

ment"At a time of growing import­ance of fire management tothe sector, Ethan's appoint­ment continues to demon­strate the commitment ofNorthwoods to the forestryand land management sectorof the north east.

Northwoods is managed byRural DevelopmentInitiatives ­ for more detailson the work carried out byRDI, please see theirwebsite atwww.ruraldevelopment.org.uk

4 | summer 08 | northwoods news

NEWHeat ­ a year onThe NEWHeat (North EastWood Heat) project wasofficially launched in April2007, with a 'Heated Debate'in Chopwell Woods nearNewcastle. The debate wasattended by media luminariessuch as the 'Green Goddess',columnist for theIndependent, Julia Stephen­son.So what has been achievedin the last twelve months?

So far, we have carried outmore than 80 site visitsacross the north east region,covering a wide variety ofbuilding types andcomplexities. Of the site visitsand reports completed, 9have progressed to thesecond stage of support, andhave tendered for companiesto install biomass boilers.A marketing campaign isshortly being launched for thesecond year of the project,and we are also planning alarge biomass event, to beheld in The Sage, Newcastle,on March 11th and 12th 2009.The idea is to bring biomassout of its specialist area, andto demonstrate that it shouldbe considered as a standardand viable alternative totraditional fossil fuels.The event will be held overtwo days, and will includetalks and workshops on avariety of subjects.Further information on thisevent should becomeavailable shortly ­ check outthe Northwoods website forfurther details, or look forinformation in the forestryand renewables sector pressover the coming months.

northwoods news | summer 08 | 5

Advert appearing in regional press advertising the Newheat service, created by our media partner,Cravens. If you're a business (which includes organisations such as universities, social enterprisesetc), give us a ring to book your free visit

6 | summer 08 | northwoods news

For those of you whohaven't already heard aboutNEWFuels (North East WoodFuels), it's a not­for­profitcompany limited byguarantee which aims tosupply affordable, high­qualitywood fuel across the region.How do we manage this?The project is managed byNorthwoods. Due to ourexpertise in woodfuel, we canensure that both the site andthe fuel provider are gettingwhat they need from acontract.We visit the customer andwrite up a fuel supplyspecification, which is thenoffered to all members ofNEWFuels to bid for.

A contract is signed betweenthe customer and themember(s) of NEWFuelswhich is selected as thesupplier. To provide additionalsecurity and peace of mind,NEWFuels also holds a bondto the value of 1 month's fuelsupply from the fuel supplier,which can be used to pay forremoval and replacement offuel which does not come upto specification.NEWFuels levies a smallcharge on the fuel supplier,which goes towards theoverall operation of thecompany.If you are interested in joiningNEWFuels as a supplier, orwant to find out more aboutthe fuel offered by theproducer group, give us a callon 0845 373 2766

NEWFuels ­ keeping the north east suppliedwith quality, affordable wood fuel

northwoods news | summer 08 | 7

Ignite ­ training the next generation offuel suppliersNorthwoods is well­knownfor delivering training relevantto many sectors of forestry.Ignite is the award­winningLantra­approved coursewhich provides a solidgrounding in understandingthe fuel supply, from tree toboiler. This year Ignitetraining courses have beendelivered in Devon,Gloucestershire, in Wales,Cumbria and Yorkshire.Thecourses arranged for the restof the year are:Pembrokeshire (3­5th June)Brecon Beacons (2­4thSeptember)Snowdonia (28­30th October)The Ignite course hasexpanded from its core 3­dayintensive format, and thereare now a number of bolt­onoptions which can be studied.These include:

Urban woodfuel productionand useIntroduction to woodfuelWoodfuel quality standardsWoodfuel for traditional estatesManaging woodlands for fuelTo book on any of the abovecourses, or to enquire aboutcourses in other areas, call0845 226 2890

Ignite ­ training the next generation offuel suppliers

Ignite ­ award winning training!

8 | summer 08 | northwoods news

Northumberland fire group

Woodswork

As the group nears theend of its second year offunded operations, it providesus with a good time to reflecton some of the fantasticachievements so far.The group has beenrecognised as an example ofbest practice and as a modelthat works for running firegroups in the UK. This couldnot have been achievedwithout the tirelesscontributions of all themembers that put time asideto contribute to groupactivities, particularly thelandowners and managerswho have backed the groupfrom the start.The group has facilitated thetraining of over 120 people inbasic and advanced wildfireknowledge and techniques.This increase of knowledgecan only help the response towildfire incidents in the northeast and improveeffectiveness andcommunications between the

Fire and Rescue Service andother agencies andindividuals present at wildfireincidents. These courses canbe run at any time so if youwould like to know moreplease contact the group.Through our standardised fireplan document and fire planvisits and workshops we areclose to covering most of thehigh risk wildfire areas inNorthumberland.So far over 144,000 hectaresof land is covered by a fireplan! This document is ofenormous benefit to the FireService in the response towildfire incidents so if you area landowner who may be atrisk of wildfires and don’thave one of these vital plansin place, please contact us toorganise a visit!The fire group has justrelease a groundbreakingpublic awareness DVD aimedat educating the public aboutthe risks and consequencesof wildfire and the actionsthey can take to preventthem.The first of its kind in the UK,the DVD will be playing invisitor centres, touristinformation centres and otherareas within the North East.The DVD has so far met withgreat interest around theregion and if you would like tofind out more please contactthe group.

northwoods news | summer 08 | 9

MTapPTmNCb1

I would also like to take theopportunity to personallythank everyone who hascontributed to the group’ssuccesses since itsbeginning. I will be leavingNorthwoods to head backhome to Australia but havethoroughly enjoyed my time

here in the North East. Thegroup is being left in the safehands of Ethan Bigelow, awildfire officer from the US,who will be taking overmanagement of the group.Marc Barendrecht

Time is running out for youto take advantage of theheavily subsidised trainingprovided through theWoodswork project.There have been a lot ofpeople in the North East whohave benefited from the widerange of training provided byWoodswork so far, butunfortunately the project isalmost at its end. The projectwill be operating until the endof June so get in now tobenefit from the remainingfunding.

We have three great coursesleft to run so if any are ofinterest to you please contactus to confirm your place!A lot of you have takenadvantage of our fundedtechnical training so far andthere is only two moremonths remaining for you todo so!We have the capacity to fundtechnical training, the mostpopular being chainsaw, but ifyou have other training youare doing then give us a callto discuss. We can pay for50% of your training costs!

Woodswork

obile Sawmilling:he course will cover potential markets for your timber, health and safety on a mobile saw andgood part of the day working the saw yourself! Running three separate courses with only 2eople per day allowed. Places limited so book early to secure your place! June 10th­12thests and Pest Control:

he aim of the course is for woodland owners and managers to recognize the presence ofammals and signs of damage. May 28th 2008on­Timber Forest Products:overing a background on NTFP and what products there are, potential markets andusiness contacts as well as guest speakers from businesses in the market for NTFP. June9th or 20th

10 | summer 08 | northwoods news

Grants for the sectorDEFRA has announcedthe latest round of grants forbiomass installations, with thesame level of intervention ashas been the case before.All sectors except domesticare covered, and biomass boil­ers, CHP systems and anaer­obic digestors are eligible.Eligible installations will save40% of the differencebetween a biomass installa­tion and the fossil fuel equival­ent.In practice this will mean a sav­ing of about 30% on the capit­al cost of an installedbiomass boiler, to a maximumof £100,000 per installation.Further details of this grantfund are available on the web­site below.

Tynedale Tree Skills is thelatest training programme tocome from the Northwoodsstable.We have funding fromTynedale Council to subsidisetraining within Tynedale forpeople attending training re­lated to forestry, which will en­able them to enter the sector,or improve their existing skills.

The funding available is 75%of the course cost for individu­als and small businesses,and 50% for larger busi­nesses.To find out more about this,please contact the North­woods office.

The RDPE (RuralDevelopment Plan forEngland) has been launched.We don't yet have the detailsof what will be included in thescheme, but it is hoped thatthere will be some capitalgrants to assist the develop­ment of resources which willsupport the wood fuel supplychain.We anticipate an announce­ment to be made shortly, andwill provide information aboutthe fund on our website assoon as we know more.

Bioenergy capital grant: www.defra.gov.uk/farm/crops/industrial/energy/capital­grants.htm

About Northwoods

northwoods news | summer 08 | 11

Grants for the sector About NorthwoodsNorthwoods is thewoodland initiative for thenorth east. We run a widevariety of projects to do withforestry, renewable energy,wildfire management andtraining.We work with a wide range ofpartners across the public,private and not­for­profitsectors.We currently have four staff,and are pleased to welcomea three­month MScplacement to the office.Katie Coombs is studying foran MSc in Clean Technologyat the University ofNewcastle, and will beworking on the wastebiomass stream, andobstacles to its use in themainstream biomass sector.

Katie started work with us atthe end of April, and has im­pressed us with her hardwork and enthusiasm. Welook forward to helping herprovide a real insight into thebiomass waste stream.

Northwoods is.......Pam Baker ­ Admin assistantEthan Bigelow ­ Project officerDavid Clubb ­ Project directorJohn Farquhar ­ Project officer

NorthwoodsCockle ParkMorpethNorthumberlandNE61 3EBTel: 01670 790444www.northwoods.org.uk