Chalmers & Co, land agents and estate agents, is a fan of using wood as a fuel as long as it is sourced from sustainable forestry. The firm was one of the first high street offices in the UK to convert its heating system to a biomass one fuelled with wood pellets.
Chalmers’ sister business, Winton Estate, uses a wood chip heating system to heat its 500 year old corporate hospitality venue, Winton House. Winton Woodfuel, based nearby, supplies high quality hardwood logs to households across the Lothians.
Francis Ogilvy, owner of Chalmers & Co, says: “I don’t agree that climate change is the single biggest threat facing the planet, but I do agree that it is an issue that needs urgent attention on a massive scale. It is, therefore, encouraging to hear that woodfuel consumption is continuing to grow rapidly.”
The Forestry Commission’s latest report on woodfuel usage in Scotland shows that the popularity of woodfuel is set to continue increasing over the next few years.
Minister for the Environment & Climate Change, Stewart Stevenson, said:
“Clearly, woodfuel and biomass have an important role to play in Scotland’s journey towards developing a renewable, sustainable energy supply – and this latest update report offers some encouraging evidence of how well woodfuel is being integrated into that process.”
Key points made on existing and potential woodfuel usage in the commercial, industrial and electrical generation sectors in Scotland include:
- During 2010 wood fuel usage increased by 118k odt (oven dried tons) to 618k odt/yr.
- Current wood fuel projects in Scotland save an estimated 902,000 tonnes of C02 emissions annually, almost twice as much as in 2009 (509,000 tonnes)
- The total quantity of wood going directly or indirectly into wood fuel is forecast at some 800k odt in 2011 rising to in excess of one million odt in 2012.
For more information you can see the woodfuel report here.
