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Forestry Commission promotes woodfuel

Posted: 01/04/2007

The Forestry Commission has launched a plan to boost the supply of woodfuel. The new strategy aims to source an extra two million tonnes of wood a year by 2020 for burning in boilers. The FC say using more wood for energy could provide new rural jobs and help Britain meet its climate targets.

Environment minister Barry Gardiner, attending the kick off of the scheme in Bristol, at the Blaise Plant Nursery, said that if the fuel is taken from properly managed woodlands it should save 400,000 tonnes of carbon annually. "It also has huge benefits in terms of biodiversity and improvement of habitats for all the species we want to preserve within the countryside".

The Blaise Nursery uses clean recovered wood from the city's parks to heat greenhouses, saving £19,000 a year on fuel bills. "We've got resources of wood - trimmings from parks and from trees in streets," said Paul Isbell, energy manager for Bristol City Council. "In the past we've treated this as waste, but now we're using it to heat a nursery. Before, we were using oil or bottled gas, which was not only expensive but also added a lot of carbon to the atmosphere."

The FC say burning wood is broadly carbon neutral because the CO2 released in combustion matches that absorbed by the trees as they grew - provided the woodland it is taken from is restocked, and that harvesting and processing does not itself use too much fossil fuel. 'Biomass', which includes wood, currently supplies 3% of total UK energy.

The Forestry Commission strategy recommends provision of capital investment and technical advice and support for the supply chain, and highlights the need for new ways of engaging with the estimated 50-80,000 owners of woodland in England.

"Over half of England's woodlands are currently under-managed. This is a significant and sustainable resource that we want to tap into," said FC Chairman Lord Clark of Windermere. "Using wood to substitute for fossil fuels means that well managed woodland can help to combat climate change."

If its targets are met, the Commission claims the amount of carbon saved annually would be equivalent to taking 550,000 cars off the road.

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