CASE STUDY flexibility in times of high demand.
How is wood-fuel produced and supplied? MWF has recently transferred its wood purchasing and seasoning operations to Nationwide Wood Fuel Ltd, a company set up by some of the MWF directors and investors. This has allowed MWF to avoid tying up capital in wood stocks, and let it focus on growing the business of delivering wood-fuel to customers. Although Nationwide Wood Fuel is financially responsible for the wood while it is seasoning, MWF continues to supervise the day-to-day operations of purchasing and storing the wood. This structure makes it easier to find finance for timber stocks, as it separates the commercial risks of timber purchase and supply operations.
Wood is bought in from landowners, forestry contractors and the Forestry Commission. All trees felled will have been covered by felling licences, which require replanting or management for natural regeneration. Much of the wood felled is from thinning operations, so is only suitable for fuel, pulp or fibreboard manufacture. Slab-wood, which is a byproduct of sawmills, is also bought in when available. After purchase, the wood is stored for a year to ‘season’, during which time the moisture content falls from over 50% to around 30%. Rapid seasoning is encouraged by storing logs off the ground on dry, windy sites and by encouraging forestry contractors to damage the bark on the trees while handling them, as this promotes the loss of moisture.
After the wood has been seasoned, it is chipped using MWF’s Musmax drum chipper, which has a throughput of 15 tonnes/hour, and stored in barns on a concrete floor to prevent contamination with soil, stones or other materials. The wood-chip is ready for delivery straight away. MWF has three delivery vehicles, one which can tip fuel into stores or deliver hook-lift bins for customers that use them, and two which are able to blow wood chips or pellets down a delivery hose into a fuel store. Blowing the fuel in is important for many customers, as it allows them to site their fuel store where it is most convenient for them, rather than where a delivery vehicle can get direct access to it. Each delivery vehicle can carry up to 30 cubic metres of wood-fuel, equivalent to around 7 tonnes of wood chip or 14 tonnes of wood pellets.
Environmental benefits In the financial year 2010/11, MWF delivered 5,253 tonnes of wood-fuel to its customers. About 75% of this replaced gas use, and the rest replaced heating oil. Replacing fossil fuels with sustainable wood-fuel cuts greenhouse gas emissions, because the forests where the wood is sourced from are replanted or naturally regenerating, so that the CO2 emitted when the wood is burned is re- absorbed over time. The total reduction in greenhouse gas emissions is about 3,700 tonnes/year of CO2. Better management of forests can also be beneficial for biodiversity.
Economic and employment benefits MWF provides employment for nine people, five full-time and four part-time or seasonal. In addition to this, the business also supports jobs at 17 forestry contractors and a vehicle maintenance contractor, as well as casual work at the depots to carry out wood chipping. MWF has also been helping other organisations improve their employees’ skills, for example delivering CPD lectures on the use of wood-fuel to some of its corporate customers. For landowners and the Forestry Commission, having an additional market for forestry thinnings and other low-grade timber provides an additional income stream, and makes management of forests more economically viable.
Future plans Midlands Wood Fuel is currently expanding into neighbouring areas of Northwest England and Wales, where the fuel supply infrastructure is currently inadequate. There is potential for significant growth within the region when the Renewable Heat Incentive starts, as this should encourage more boiler installations.
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