Product category:
Building Regulations and Accreditation
News Release from: Forestry Commission | Subject: Woodfuel pellets
Edited by the Buildingtalk Editorial
Team on 07 February 2007
First woodfuel pellets made in Scotland
First successful production of woodfuel pellets from Scottish raw materials is a step in the right direction for Scotland's future in renewable energy.
The first successful production of woodfuel pellets from Scottish raw materials is a step in the right direction for Scotland's future in renewable energy Forestry Commission Scotland, as the Scottish lead partner in the North Sea Bio Energy project, has demonstrated for the first time, that pellet manufacture is technically feasible for a small rural business
This article was originally published on Buildingtalk on 23 Jun 2003 at 8.00am (UK)
Related stories
Forestry Commission Statistical Publications
A range of Forestry Commission statistical publications are issued as "National Statistics", on pre-announced dates.
Talk To The Trees - The Regional Woodland Strategy
The Regional Woodland Strategy for the East of England is published in draft form and is available now for consultation.
Two demonstration plants have been established in the north of Scotland, one in James Jones and Sons .
sawmill using co-product from the mill, and in Norbuild Timber Fabrication and Fine Carpentry.
Both are aimed at the small-scale producer market, encouraging the production (using locally available materials) and the distribution of wood pellets to a local market.
Further reading
Squirrel Damage: Help Is On Hand
Woodland owners and managers have a new source of advice to help them combat the threat to trees posed by growing numbers of grey squirrels in Britain.
Furure For Scotland's Woods, People And Wildlife
The Scottish Executive wants more joined-up woodlands in Scotland.
The development will provide a boost for local businesses in the North of Scotland that have been considering investing in this technology, but did not want to take the risk of buying expensive machinery that had not been operated in Scotland before.
It is now hoped that small-scale pellet production will be adopted on a commercial basis by Scottish rural businesses as they can learn from the technical and economic lessons experienced in this demonstration project.
Dan Gates, Woodfuel Officer for Forestry Commission Scotland, said: "This has been a very exciting project as we have shown it is technically viable for a small businesses to do this - something that was in doubt two or three years ago when the project was proposed.
In some ways, the next step is to do the testing to see if we can make this economically viable.
We will have a range of data from this project which we can pass onto businesses so hopefully they can replicate this type of production facility.
Ultimately more local production of this fuel will bring customers the confidence to use wood pellets for automated heating.
"Using wood pellets for the domestic heating market in a serious way has been a long term dream for many involved in the biomass sector, and we hope that we can follow the example of numerous other European countries and establish a credible domestic biomass industry".
Billy Bodles, Project Manager from Highland Birchwoods, said: "It was very challenging, and we couldn't have achieved the result with out good support from James Jones and Sons .
We are delighted that this has been achieved in Scotland".
The project will be holding demonstration days for interested parties the first date is the 24th March.
To register contact Billy on william.bodles@highland birchwoods.co.uk.
This project lead partner was the Forestry Commission Scotland (GBP70,000) , and involved the support of Aberdeenshire Council (GBP10,000), Moray Council (GBP10,000), Highland Council (GBP15,000), Scottish Enterprise (GBP30,000) and Forest Research and was funded by the EU Interreg III programme (GBP135,000).
• Forestry Commission: contact details and other news
• Email this article to a colleague
• Register for the free Buildingtalk email newsletter
• Buildingtalk Home Page
Search the Pro-Talk network of sites
