Forestry Commission Announces New Grant In The UK

Within the last few weeks details have finally been announced of Renewable Heat Incentive which will help the UK to increase the amount of heat generated from renewable resources from 1% up to 12% by 2020. One of the problems for the UK wood fuel suppliers is the lack of investment in the infrastructure to utilize the volume of woody biomass currently available in the UK. Just through forest management there is a huge amount of woody biomass that could be processed into fuel pellets for pellet stoves and boilers. Therefore to provide more wood fuels from UK resources the forestry commission is willing to invest in the infrastructure, admin and equipment to produce more wood fuels.

The Renewable Heat Incentive And Domestic Heating

When the details came out about the Renewable Heat Incentive it became clear that for the first year of funding only business and public services will be able to take advantage of the scheme. The domestic market will be introduced a year later once the system is setup properly. The renewable heat incentive is the first of its kind anywhere in the world. The scheme will pay the owner of the renewable heat system a grant each year to cover fuel and maintenance. Previous schemes have supported the purchase of equipment, not the purchase of the fuel. However, while oil prices are high the price point of pellets is more attractive. But when the price of oil is low and pellets are roughly the same price, pellets seem less attractive due to the increased maintenance.

Wood Burning Stoves

Wood Burning Pellet Stoves

Why Pellet Stoves and Boilers and Not Log Stoves and Boilers

The renewable heat incentive has excluded support for log stoves and boilers. The reasons for this are that many logs stoves are very inefficient and produce large amounts of particulates and smoke. These emissions are not good for your health, and also they indicate poor combustion which is a waste of fuel. Many owners of log stoves burn logs which have had very little drying time if any. Most logs burnt will have a moisture content around 30-40%. The renewable heat incentive cannot control the quality of wood used, and therefore has excluded log stoves and boilers. Pellets on the other hand to be able to hold their form will have a moisture content below 10%. Pellets burn much more efficiently and create less smoke and ash. To learn more please click below.

The Wood Pellet Stoves and Wood Boiler Guide © PelHeat Ltd - Forestry Commission Announces New Grant