INDUSTRY NEWS


Call for greater clarity on infected timber


SMALLTALK W


ith large amounts of


British woodland being felled


in an attempt to counter the increasing threat posed by diseases such as Phytophthora ramorum and Chalara fraxinia, one of the English Midland’s leading producers of renewable wood chip fuel for use in biomass heating systems has called for greater clarity on any restrictions that may be in place for use of infected timber.


Phytophthora ramorum is of particular danger to species of larch, but can also affect beech, horse chestnut, sweet chestnut, red oak and sessile oak. As its common name suggests, Ash Dieback – or Chalara fraxinia – is of greatest threat to ash trees and it’s estimated that the disease has been responsible for the loss of between 60-90% of Denmark’s ash trees so it is a significant


threat to the UK’s woodland. As areas of infected woodland are identified and quarantine measures taken by the Forestry Commission such as issuing woodland owners with statutory Plant Health Notices that require infected trees to be felled, an increasing amount of timber is becoming available for potential commercial use.


Simon Lloyd-Jones, a director of Edge Renewables Ltd, said: “Spurred on by a combination of high energy prices and the Government’s Renewable Heat Incentive (RHI) that pays non- domestic consumers to generate heat from renewable sources, biomass heating is becoming ever-more popular and is set to help the UK reach its legally- binding targets for lowering greenhouse gas emissions.” “As a producer of renewable wood-chip fuel that uses timber from sustainably-managed


sources, it’s unclear within our sector as to the level of restrictions that are, or may be put into place to avoid the further spread of the diseases by transportation and processing of the timber into wood chip. “I appreciate that there’s obvious biosecurity measures that need to be made whilst leaving an infected area of woodland, such as disinfecting footwear, tools and vehicles, but if we’re transporting infected timber and processing it alongside normal, healthy wood, then are we leaving ourselves open to restrictive quarantine measures?” Lloyd-Jones continued, “ The growing wood fuel sector needs a lot more clarity from government and its agencies in order to ensure that it can help prevent the further spread of disease, whilst putting the timber to use in helping lower carbon emissions from the heating sector”.


Sharper focus on biomass


Biomass, waste and coal-based heat and power generation solutions are offered by Valmet (previously Metso’s Pulp, Paper and Power) in its energy business. In the field of biomass-based energy production solutions,


Valmet will sharpen its focus on the product portfolio. In future, Valmet’s offering will cover boiler islands, small power plants based on bubbling fluidised bed (BFB) and BioGrate combustion technologies, and large heating


plants based on BFB and pellet technologies.


As a result of this process, Valmet will divest its small-scale heating plant business and related service operations in Finland, Russia and Sweden.


EU emission target ahead of schedule The European Union is likely to achieve its 2020 emission reduction target ahead of schedule in non-Emissions Trading System sectors. A foresight study by VTT Technical Research Centre of Finland indicates that this outcome, which is more positive than expected, will mean that not all emission quotas will need to be used. In turn, this will mean that quota values remain low. The VTT estimates that the EU’s cumulative surplus for 2013- 2020 emission quotas in non- ETS sectors will total 160-2000 megatonnes of carbon dioxide. Annually, this would correspond to up to 5% of all emissions within the EU. Emissions for the non-ETS sector show a trend similar to that of the ETS sector.


‘Double counting’ proposal for biofuels


In the UK, the government has proposed ‘double counting’ biofuels as part of the renewable energy targets for 2020 that require 20% green energy. Up until now, the targets had been separate with 10% for transport and 20% for power, but the UK’s proposal would lower the 20% power target to 19.5%. The move would, in theory, reduce investment in renewables by $7.55 billion a year to 2020.


Tax cuts for biomass boilers


A measure drawn up by the town council at Arbúcies (Girona), Spain, introducing tax reductions and discounts for energy efficiency and the use of renewables has proved popular in the town. The measure grants discounts of 20% on construction tax and 50% on property tax (IBI) to users who have installed a biomass boiler.


January 2014 3 3


INDUSTRY NEWS


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