There are three potential markets for short rotation coppice in the UK:

Small scale wood heating or combined heat and power boilers

The modern wood fuel industry is based on automated chip and pellet systems, that are clean and efficient, as well as being attractive to look at. Wood fuel heating can range from 15KWth, up to 1MWth. The systems are designed to run smoothly with minimum maintenance. Most buildings can be heated using wood fuel. CHP (combined heat and power) offers the production of heat and power from a single source. This is a highly efficient technology that is mature and well established. Small scale CHP typically converts about 30% of the input fuel into electricity and 50% into heat. In some circumstances any excess electricity can be sold back to the grid.

Example:

The Wood Energy Business Scheme (WEBS) has been established to provide Capital grants to kick-start the industry in Wales. Of all the energy technologies, wood fuel has the most significant positive effect on employment and income for rural communities and promoting sustainable woodland management. WEBS is set to improve the livelihoods of the rural communities and offers diversification and regeneration opportunities, especially in the agriculture and forestry sectors.

Medium size dedicated biomass power stations

An increasing number of dedicated biomass boilers are being constructed around the country. These are specifically designed to burn biomass and can accept the coppice fuel in the form in which it is harvested from the field. An average biomass boiler of approximately 5 MWe will require 30,000 odt/ year, or 3,750ha/year (assuming a yield of 8 odt/ha/yr).

Example:

Existing Coal-Fired Power Stations

Some traditional coal fired power stations are already co-firing biomass (eg sawmill sawdust, olive residues) with coal as a small percentage of the total heat input to the station (typically 1%-5% or around 60,000-300,000 odt of biomass/yr). The technology on these stations was built to burn pulverised coal rather than a mixed fuel. In order to co-fire wood with coal, the wood has to be ground to a sawdust-type product (typically around 5 mm particle size). Legislative requirements mean that power stations co-firing biomass after March 31st 2009 will have to use energy crops as indicated below.

Example: RWE npower is using wood waste as part of Renewable Obligations and is seeking to include biomass from energy crops in order to meet legislation requirements.

Legislation favouring the use of energy crops for power generation

The electricity produced from biomass in a dedicated station or co-fired with coal is an “eligible renewable” under the Renewables Obligation and receives a Renewable Obligation Certificate (ROC) for every 1 MW generated. ROCs can be traded, potentially giving a “green premium” for renewable electricity. The Renewables Obligation legislation places a requirement on suppliers of electricity to source an increasing proportion of their supply from renewable sources (from around 3% in 2003, rising to 10% in 2010) and is one of the Government’s key policy instruments for reducing emissions of CO2.

Coal-fired power stations burning biomass will have to source 25% of the biomass from energy crops from 1st April 2009. On 1st April 2010 and 1st April 2011, this increases to 50% and 75% respectively. The requirement for 75% energy crops continues until March 31st 2016 when all biomass co-firing has to cease. This could mean an energy crop requirement for a typical coal-fired power station of 15,000-75,000 odt /yr in 2009, rising to 45,000-225,000 odt/ yr from 2011 (depending on the % of total biomass being co-fired prior to 2009).