biomass
Basic concept
The term 'Biomass' can be applied to any fuel type derived from living tissue (for example, wood, grain, straw, bio-diesel). Biomass fuels can displace the use of fossil fuels especially for 'heat only' applications such as firing boilers providing space heating or water heating. Biomass fuel is often termed 'carbon-neutral' as it releases the same amount of carbon into the atmosphere as it takes out while growing (virtually!).
At Glendevon Energy we provide only wood pellet and log heating systems (3kW-104kW). We are often asked about wood chip schemes and take the view that they are only appropriate for installations over 100kW, a market we are not yet serving. This is largely due to the sheer bulk of the wood-chip, making it potentially dificult to handle and store for many customers.
Basic Technology
Log or Pellet boilers use advanced microprocessors to control the amount of fuel and air being supplied to the combustion chamber. This ensures extremely high efficiencies (up to 92%) and ultra-low emissions. Automatic pellet feed hoppers are incorporated along with heat storage systems. They are self-analysing systems maintaining economic and environmental efficiency.
Wood gassification and pellet boilers are relatively new to the UK but have been tried and tested else where in Europe for some considerable time. In Austria the leading manufacturer has seen a rapid rise in demand for its systems, which has now overtaken demand for its oil and gas boilers.
Output
Wood fired central heating can range in output from 2kW to multi-megawatt outputs.
Costs
Biomass fuels can be cheaper than many fossil fuels especially with escalating gas, electricity and oil prices.
A typical installation cost for a domestic manually fed pellet boiler is about £15,000 with a fully automated system costing £3-5,000 more. The installation cost may be significantly reduced by a grant.
Grants
Grants are available from the Energy Saving Scotland home renewables grant shceme as a rebate offering up to 30% of the installation costs subject to a maximum of £4,000 (households).
More ,information may be found at the Energy Saving Scotland home renewables grant scheme
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