On Tuesday I took part in a Summit on Woodfuel & Biomass led by Shadow Minister for the Environment, Greg Barker, at Warwickshire College. As someone who burns logs in a woodburning stove and having just planted trees which will provide more logs in the future, I was familiar with wood as a fuel, but was unsure about the biomass part. This refers to living material, usually wood but also straw, which is used as fuel. The wood is generally in the form of chippings or pellets. I learnt a great deal about a small but sustainable industry trying to compete with established “brown fuels” - oil, gas and coal to create heat or power and a combination of both. Massive environmental benefits are available in the form of carbon dioxide reductions but the high costs of capital equipment mean that the fuel needs to be significantly less expensive than alternatives for it to take off. Currently oil fluctuates too much with the price today a third of what it was a year or two ago. Government can influence progress by using a carrot or a stick. It was generally agreed by those present that the carrot in the form of grants, which have become very complicated, is not working and they would rather see a stick in the form of carbon taxes. I pointed out that if they meant higher fuel and energy prices to businesses and householders, they wouldn’t be very popular with voters, although the counter to that is that support should be made available to those least able to meet higher charges and the environmental benefits would be available to everyone. Generally if you put any group of business people together will think that they are not getting a high enough price for their product and this was no exception! I enjoyed meeting several knowledgeable and committed speakers, among them Bruno Prior of Forever Fuels. I shall look at my trees in a new light.Thursday, 14 May 2009
Woodfuel & Biomass summit
On Tuesday I took part in a Summit on Woodfuel & Biomass led by Shadow Minister for the Environment, Greg Barker, at Warwickshire College. As someone who burns logs in a woodburning stove and having just planted trees which will provide more logs in the future, I was familiar with wood as a fuel, but was unsure about the biomass part. This refers to living material, usually wood but also straw, which is used as fuel. The wood is generally in the form of chippings or pellets. I learnt a great deal about a small but sustainable industry trying to compete with established “brown fuels” - oil, gas and coal to create heat or power and a combination of both. Massive environmental benefits are available in the form of carbon dioxide reductions but the high costs of capital equipment mean that the fuel needs to be significantly less expensive than alternatives for it to take off. Currently oil fluctuates too much with the price today a third of what it was a year or two ago. Government can influence progress by using a carrot or a stick. It was generally agreed by those present that the carrot in the form of grants, which have become very complicated, is not working and they would rather see a stick in the form of carbon taxes. I pointed out that if they meant higher fuel and energy prices to businesses and householders, they wouldn’t be very popular with voters, although the counter to that is that support should be made available to those least able to meet higher charges and the environmental benefits would be available to everyone. Generally if you put any group of business people together will think that they are not getting a high enough price for their product and this was no exception! I enjoyed meeting several knowledgeable and committed speakers, among them Bruno Prior of Forever Fuels. I shall look at my trees in a new light.
