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Biomass

Key Benefits

Reduce your heating and hot water bill by up to 100%
Payback period typically 5-8 years, with future savings of £1000's every year thereafter
Protect against hikes in fuel prices, e.g. a £1000 bill this year could become £2000 in 5yrs and £4000 in 10yrs - with biomass, you could be saving this amount instead of paying it!
Most effective with underfloor heating, over-sized radiators, and aluminium radiators
Life expectancy typically 20-25 years
Add £1000's in value and a unique selling point to your property

What is Biomass?

Biomass is produced from organic materials, either directly from plants or indirectly from industrial, commercial, domestic or agricultural products. It is often called 'bioenergy' or 'biofuels'. It doesn't include fossil fuels, which have taken millions of years to be created.

Biomass fall into two main categories:

Woody biomass includes forest products, untreated wood products, energy crops and short rotation coppice (SRC), which are quick-growing trees like willow.
Non-woody biomass includes animal waste, industrial and biodegradable municipal products from food processing and high energy crops. Examples are rape, sugar cane, maize.

For small-scale domestic applications of biomass the fuel usually takes the form of wood pellets, wood chips or wood logs.

How does it work?

There are two main ways of using biomass to heat a domestic property:

Stand alone stoves providing space heating for a room. These can be fuelled by logs or pellets but only pellets are suitable for automatic feed. Generally they are 6-12 kW in output, and some models can be fitted with a back boiler to provide water heating.
Boilers connected to central heating and hot water systems. These are suitable for pellets, logs or chips, and are generally larger than 15 kW.

There are many domestic log, wood chip and wood pellet burning central heating boilers available. Log boilers must be loaded by hand and may be unsuitable for some situations. Automatic pellet and wood chip systems can be more expensive. Many boilers will dual fire both wood chips and pellets, although the wood chip boilers need larger hoppers to provide the same time interval between refuelling.

The benefits

Producing energy from biomass has both environmental and economic advantages.

It is a carbon neutral process as the CO₂ released when energy is generated from biomass is balanced by that absorbed during the fuel's production. Furthermore, biomass can contribute to waste management by harnessing energy from products that are often disposed of at landfill sites.

It is most cost effective when a local fuel source is used, which results in local investment and employment and also minimises transport miles to your home.

Is it suitable for my home or business?

There are several factors for you to consider when looking at installing a biomass boiler to provide heating (and hot water) for your property. Here are some of them:

What type of fuel will you be replacing?
Where will you store the pellets? And will you need to have them delivered by a lorry? If so, will you have the necessary access?
Who will be your local supplier of these pellets?

Do you have a flue in place? If yes, will it be useable? If not, where will you have one installed?
What level of building regs does your property meet in terms of insulation?
Wood canonly be burnt in exempted appliances, under the Clean Air Act.
If the building is "listed" or is in an area of outstanding natural beauty (AONB), then you will need to check with your Local Authority Planning Department before a flue is fitted.

How much does a Biomass system cost, and how much will I save?

Stand alone room heaters generally cost in the region of £3000 installed. Savings will depend on how much they are used and which fuel you are replacing.

The cost for boilers varies depending on the system choice; a typical 15kW (average size required for a three-bedroom semi detached house) pellet boiler would cost around £5000 - £11000 installed, including the cost of the flue and commissioning. A manual log feed system of the same size would be slightly cheaper. A biomass boiler could save you hundreds of pounds a year in energy bills and several tonnes of C0₂ per year.

Unlike other forms of renewable energy, biomass systems require you to pay for the fuel. Fuel costs generally depend on the distance from your supplier and whether you can buy in large quantities.

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