Heating with biomass and biofuel

Biomass and biofuel (oil and gas) are carbon neutral because the plants grown to produce these fuels also absorb the C0₂ emitted when they are burned – it is a virtuous circle.

Biomass wood pellets are a renewable source of heating fuel as they are often sourced from waste wood that would otherwise be discarded at the end of timber processing. The pellets are formed from natural, untreated wood collected from wood shavings, sawdust or forestry offcuts – two kilograms can produce about the same amount of heat as a litre of heating oil.

Silo
Pellets are burned in stoves, central heating boilers and large district heating schemes. They are delivered by tanker and kept in a silo or underground storage bunker. The system for delivering the pellets to the boiler requires fairly sophisticated engineering and high safety standards.

The transport industry is investing massive sums in biofuels because of the obvious environmental and security benefits of moving away from an oil-based economy. The heating industry is moving quickly to take advantage of this development.

Converted
Existing oil-fired heating systems can be easily converted to work with bio-fuel and this process is already underway in Germany where over 6 million oil systems could be converted. Modern burners are able to cope with the new generation of biofuels and the existing storage and transportation systems can be retrofitted to accommodate this new approach.

Biofuels are derived from rapeseed, sunflower and palm and when processed with has very similar properties to heating oil and diesel. A second generation of synthetically created bio-fuel is also under development.

Rural
Biogas is produced in a process very similar to fermentation and is ideal for use in rural areas. Decomposed vegetation, manure and organic waste is treated to produce a mixture that is largely methane and CO2.

It is already being mixed with natural gas in several European countries to reduce carbon emissions and extend the life of gas reserves. It can be used with a condensing boiler or Combined Heat and Power (CHP) – see later page – as the use of more efficient technologies helps to offset the currently higher cost of producing this fuel.

Issues to consider:

Is there a local source or will the fuel have to be transported from great distances so rather negating the point by adding to transport emissions?

Does the property have adequate space for the substantial storage facilities required? Wood burning systems require special fire safety measures and are subject to fire safety inspection.

For more information read our detailed biomass research paper.