Progress on wood quality initiative
Industry proposals to establish agreed standards gathering pace
Thousands of farmers are thinning their woodland at present and are anxiously looking to see how they can make forestry pay once their premium income comes to an end.
The recent 8pc cut in the annual premium was, in a sense, a wake-up call for us all to get off our backsides and do something positive rather than sit and wait for the cheques to arrive each year. For many of us who planted in the early 1990s, these cheques will soon stop and, following the collapse in the markets for construction timber, the only good news for woodland owners is the growing demand for wood fuel.
Fortunately, this demand for seasoned logs, wood chip and pellets is rapidly increasing. Homeowners are now installing heating systems that can use this sustainable and competitive home-grown product, but they must be assured of the quality of what they buy. While the price of oil is currently less than half what it was a year ago, this is only a temporary respite and oil is virtually guaranteed to rise substantially as soon as the world's economies return to near normal. Modern, wood-fuel heating systems are wonderfully efficient and, after installation, provide heat at a price that is considerably less than that of fossil fuels. However, to function properly, these systems require dry, seasoned timber and, at times, this has been hard to obtain.
Reliable
Up to now, the difficulty in locating a reliable source of dry logs and other wood fuels has hindered the entire wood-fuel market. Last April, in response to this situation, a working group of woodland owners and fuel suppliers got together to establish standards for the industry that can assure the consumer of the quality of what they buy. This initiative is supported by Sustainable Energy Ireland and COFORD and the scheme will cover firewood, chips, pellets and briquettes formed from clean wood.
The introduction of a Wood Fuel Quality Assurance scheme is now at an advanced stage and, once in place, will allow consumers to buy their fuel knowing that it will do what is says on the tin. Good progress has been made and it is hoped that an agreed standard will be in place by October before the start of the 2009 winter-heating season.
For too long we have had a stop-start industry with some fuel producers diligently storing and drying their logs correctly prior to sale and delivering them in lots to suit the customer, while a few others were selling wet Sitka without any proper preparation.
To counter any possible negative perceptions, woodland owners who have invested in the production of quality, dry wood fuel now want their produce covered under a quality assurance scheme that will allow the public to buy wood-based products with full confidence.
It makes sense to have such a scheme and this will benefit all woodland owners in the long term. People who wish to sign up will pay a reasonable annual sum to the organisers and, in return, can label their produce with the quality logo telling the customer the moisture content, log/pellet/chip size, timber species used and any other relevant information. All wood fuels for sale will be independently tested by the National Standards Authority before any supplier can use the label.
While some wood chip burners can handle chip up to 35pc moisture content, storage of this material can be problematic due to internal heating and the possibility of self combustion. Log-burning stoves, which are in the majority of homes, require well-seasoned, dry timber to function properly. Burning wet fuel can have serious consequences, resulting in a build up of tar in the chimney and poor stove performance.
Feedback
The group currently working on setting the standards would welcome feedback from other producers and can be contacted by emailing Carina Mount Charles on wfqa@irbea.org. But, first check out the website of the Irish Bioenergy Association (www.irbea.org) for further information on the initiative's progress.
The wood-fuel sector is one of the few areas where employment prospects are improving, especially in rural areas where off-farm jobs are hard to find.
If we are to create a proper market for the products from our woodlands we must ensure our customers can buy them knowing that they are buying the best available and can do so repeatedly. Feedback from consumers has highlighted the need for this. When buying fuel, no one wants to pay for water.
- Joe Barry
