Biomass Energy Centre

Opportunities for land managers to enter

the bioenergy supply chain

West Midlands Bioenergy Conference

December 2008

Aim of the presentation

• Give an overview of biomass fuel types

• Describe the basics of the biomass

market

• Brief description of perennial energy

Crops

• Brief description of anaerobic digestion

• Give details of where to get further

information

Biomass as a fuel

• Logs and wood chips

from woodlands

• Miscanthus and SRC

• Sawdust and off cuts

from wood processing

• Dry agricultural

residues - straw

• Food wastes, slurries

• Oil seed crops and

cereals for liquid biofuel

production

How is biomass being used?

• Most common application is heat production

using woodchips, logs or pellets

• Typical scale is between 100 - 1000kW

(around 2000 installations at present)

• Generally a single boiler in a single building

• Growing interest and application of ‘district

heating’ systems

• Industrial scale co-firing and ‘biomass only’

power generation (~6 biomass only power

stations in operation, ~12 planned)

Forestry Commission’s Strategy

• 2 million tonnes of

woodfuel from

privately owned,

undermanged

woodland

• Equivalent to

250,000 homes

worth of energy

How can I supply this market?

• Use thinnings, poor quality trees

• Allow to dry ‘in the round’

• Chip using a woodfuel grade chipper

• Keep chips dry - make sure they match

boiler specification and follow industry

standards

Drying round wood prior to chipping

Producing good quality chips• Use a woodfuel grade

chipper - inconsistent

chip size can block

augers

• Moisture content is

critical

• CEN standards

developed for use

across Europe

• Chippers are

expensive - consider

hiring in unless you

have large quantities

to process

Is woodchip competitive with

other fuels?

• Market price varies considerably £50 - £90 per

tonne delivered typical

• Price of oil ~4.0p per kWh (@ 40p per litre)

• Gas price currently around ~ 4.0p per kWh

• 1 tonne of 30% MC woodchips contains 3500

kWh of energy

• Paying anything less than £120 per tonne of

chips is competitive with oil and gas at today’s

prices

Wood chip production costs

Variations in the cost of producing woodchips

0

20

40

60

80

100

system

1

system

2

system

3

system

4

system

5

system

6

system

7

system

8

system

9

system

10

system

11

system

12

co

st

per

ton

ne

Adding value - selling heat

• ‘Energy Supply Company’

(ESCo)

• Attractive to end users -

they do not have to worry

about sourcing fuel

• User billed according to

kWh of heat used - recorded

by a ‘heat meter’

• Watch out for ‘heat

incentive’ - being developed

now.

Capital cost

• Biomass systems often much more expensive than

fossil fuel counterparts

• DECC ‘bioenergy capital grant’

• Aimed at ‘industrial and community sectors that are

considering investing in biomass-fuelled heat

and/or combined heat and power projects,

including anaerobic digestion’

• Covers ‘up to 40% of the difference in the cost of

installing biomass…..compared to fossil fuel

alternative’. Max single award £500k

• www.bioenergycapitalgrants.org.uk

Energy Crops

• Generally refers to willow short rotation

coppice and Miscanthus

• Energy Crop Scheme grant available via

Natural England - 40% of establishment cost

• Generally associated with larger scale power

plants (E.ON at Lockerbie, SembCorp in the

North East, Eccleshall West Mids) or co-firing

• Some examples of small scale heat in the

region (Lionel Hill)

• Economics investigated by NNFCC

Short Rotation Coppice

• Plant spring year 1

• Cutback winter year

1-2

• Harvest every 3

years

• Yields 8 odt per ha

per year

• Needs specialised

harvester and

planter

Miscanthus• Plant spring year 1

• 1st harvest winter year

2 -3

• Annual harvest there

after (usually baled)

• Yields ~ 10 odt ha yr

from year 3

• Similar to a

conventional

agricultural crop

• Eccleshall in W.

Midlands

Anaerobic digestion

• Uses animal slurries, food waste, sewage

sludge, maize or grass silage to generate

‘Biogas’ (methane and carbon dioxide)

• Gas powers combustion engine, end

products are power and heat

• Could earn tradeable ‘renewable energy

certificates’

• Digestate could be used as a soil

conditioner - properties dependant on

feedstock

In conclusion

• Biomass is an established fuel and is here

to stay

• Can be economically viable

• Matching fuel quality to the end market is

paramount

• Can use existing resources or dedicated

crops

Sources of information• Biomass Energy Centre

www.biomassenergycentre.org.uk

• Forestry Commission

www.forestry.gov.uk/england-woodfuel

• Heartwoods

www.heartwoods.co.uk

• Marches wood energy network

www.mwen.org.uk

• Bioenergy West Midlands

www.bioenergywm.co.uk

• West midlands woodland & forestry forum

www.growingourfuture.org

• National Non Food Crop Centre

www.nnfcc.co.uk