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News - Main
Online Woodfuel Training Course – Scottish School of Forestry
26th -27th November
Through
collaboration with Northern WoodHeat’s Finnish partners from
North Karelia University of Applied Sciences and the Finnish
Forest Research Institute (METLA) an online Woodfuel Training
course was devised. This course was delivered to students
from the Scottish School of Forestry and representatives from
the Forestry Commission Scotland.
The course proved to be an excellent example of how our
geographical barriers need not impede the sharing of knowledge
and expertise. It is hoped that we can build on this
experience and develop further ways to use such media to share
information.
Woodfuel Quality Seminar (Findhorn Eco-village, 2nd
November; Oban, 9th November)
The
Northern WoodHeat project ran two further seminars on Woodfuel
Quality. These seminars were jointly funded by the Northern
Periphery Programme and the Scottish Biomass Support Scheme.
The seminars were prepared and delivered by Irvine Flett, a
specialist in quality issues with over 20 years experience in
the wood processing industry. The main focus of these events
was woodchip quality. The seminars were attended by current
woodfuel suppliers, potential woodfuel suppliers, woodfuel
consumers and those in an advisory capacity.
Northern WoodHeat closing conference 4th
-5th September
The
joint closing conference for the Northern WoodHeat and North
Sea Bioenergy projects, funded by Northern Periphery Programme
and Interreg IIIB respectively, was held in Strathpeffer in
the first week of September. The conference was very well
attended, with over 100 delegates present, some having
travelled from as far away as Iceland, Finland, The
Netherlands and Germany.
Opening the conference was the MP for Inverness, Nairn,
Badenoch and Stathspey, Danny Alexander. The plenary session
contained talks from Dr Bob MacIntosh, Director of the
Forestry Commission Scotland, David Henderson-Howat Deputy
Director of Agricultural Division, Rural Directorate, Scottish
Executive, Barrie Hudson, who represented the Private Sector
and Rebecca Carr of the Forestry Commission. Both Northern
WoodHeat and North Sea Bioenergy projects were summarised by
their respective project managers, Fiona Strachan and Geert
Boesjes.
Due
to the large content and results from both projects it was
deemed best to hold parallel sessions within which the
projects outcomes could be disseminated. This would ensure
that each of the two projects many outcomes could be
communicated to the delegates in the two day timescale.
The
topics of the parallel sessions included: Silviculture, Forest
Managing and Harvesting; Woodfuel Technology; Woodfuel
Logistics; Using Woodfuel; Agricultural and Woodfuel; Business
Models; Woodfuel in Practice, all of which included
presentations from participants of both projects. These
included amongst them, partners from the United Kingdom,
Finland, Iceland, The Netherlands and Germany.
The
conference proceedings also included several site visits to
see how the use of woodfuel and technology was best put to
use. Included amongst these was Aviemore North, which
demonstrates how a significant District Heating Scheme can be
installed and successfully operated in Scotland. In addition
to this, site visits were also conducted at Alvie Estate and
The Scottish School of Forestry, both of which demonstrate the
benefits of using woodfuel as an energy source.
In
addition to the two days of conference proceedings there were
also two additional days focussing on the use of woodfuel. At
the start of the week there was an excursion to Wick hosted by
FC Dornoch. This excursion demonstrated to those in
attendance the benefits of woodfuel and was titled “From Woods
to Wick”.
Following the official closing of the conference was a seminar
hosted by Deeside Woodland Products (DWP). The seminar, the
third in a series of highly successful events, focussed on
“Collaboration Within the Woodfuel Supply Chain” and was also
very well attended, with 40 delegates present. A site visit
to The Scottish School of Forestry (SSF) was also conducted
and displayed the effective working relationship between SSF
and The Forestry Commission.
The
conference, and week of woodfuel as a whole, proved to be
highly successful. Despite the two projects coming to a
conclusion, the feeling was widespread that all parties
involved should endeavour to collaborate on future projects in
the future. This can be seen as a very positive conclusion as
the benefits of sharing knowledge and expertise could be seen
throughout the projects and the conference.
The
collaborative approach taken by all the project partners has
led to a wealth of knowledge and expertise being exchanged
between all those involved.
Highland Wood Energy Demonstration Day, Fort William, 3rd
July 2007
Highland
Wood Energy, partners in the NPP funded Northern WoodHeat
Project, held a demonstration day on the 3rd of
July at Lochaber College, Fort William. The demonstration day
included demonstrations of the college’s woodfuel boiler,
Highland Wood Energy’s mobile woodfuel demonstration unit
(which includes a fully operating woodchip boiler, wood pellet
stove and a log boiler). Woodtherm fuels Ltd, another partner
in the Northern WoodHeat project and the fuel supplier to the
college, demonstrated their wood chipping and delivery
systems. After the demonstrations a presentation was held
within the college. This explored the practicalities of
woodfuel use within Scotland and provided case studies of its
use.
Woodchip Drying Trial,
Moraystone Farm, July 2007
The Scottish Agricultural
College carried out a trial as part of the Northern WoodHeat
Project in July 2007. The purpose of the trial was to
establish whether grain driers could be utiilised to dry wood
chips in an economic manner. There are many grain driers
throughout the Highlands of Scotland which are located close
to wood supplies. These grain driers are only used for a
small proportion of the year and as such if they could be used
to dry woodchips prior to sale this would provide benefits
both for the drier operator in terms of an additional income,
and also the woodfuel market in terms of a locally produced
supply of high quality woodchips. A summarised report of this
trial is available on this website.
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Dunnet Forestry Trust
Open Day: Woodfuel and Forest Management 6th
December 2006
Dunnet Forestry
Trust held an Open Day at the Northern Sands Hotel, Dunnet on
the theme of integrating woodfuel into forest management. Will
Menzies, the Chair of Dunnet Forestry Trust started the day by
welcoming the delegates and giving a brief introduction to the
trust, before handing over to Jon Hollingdale, the Community
Forest Manager, who talked about the Trust’s forest management
and restructuring work in more detail. Iain MacLennan of IM
Forestry talked about opportunities for woodfuel production
and supply in Caithness with reference to the Wick woodfuel
scheme, before the delegates heard some more about the
Northern WoodHeat project from project manager Fiona McPhie.
Jon then talked in detail about the woodfuel production trials
he has been involved in at Dunnet as part of NWH, before
leading a site visit to the forest in the afternoon.
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SCOTLAND SEMINAR november 2006
Wood Energy delegates from
across Scotland met in Tomintoul to develop collaboration
within the wood fuel supply chain at an international seminar
organised by Aboyne based timber co-operative DWP Harvesting
as part of the Northern WoodHeat Project.
Around 50 people from North, West, East and
Central Scotland and the Borders took part in the day's events
including forest owners, sawmillers, foresters from the
Forestry Commission and private and voluntary sectors,
contractors and consultants and delegates from communities.
Chaired by DWP Harvesting’s Chairman, Andrew
Bradford, the seminar opened with a presentation on Forest
Energy in Europe – Success through co-operation and networking
by Dominik Röser from the Finnish Forest Research Institute.
Asko Puhakka from the Finnish North Karelia University of
Applied Sciences presented Promoting Entrepreneurship and
Bioenergy Utilisation. highlighting Finnish experience and
the co-operative business models used by energy entrepreneurs
in North Karelia. Bob Yuill, Deputy Chief Executive of SAOS,
explained the model for New Generation Co-operatives
and then DWP Harvesting Director Andrew Nicol gave a paper on
Collaborating to Develop Small and Medium Scale Woodfuel
Supply Chains emphasising the need for all involved to
work together to maximise the increasing opportunities within
the Bioenergy Sector.
After a visit to the bioenergy plant at the
Glenlivet Estate Office heated by a Froling wood chip fired
boiler, Shaun Mochan from Forest Research gave the results of
this year’s sour felling trials at Glenlivet. Then Northern
Woodheat Project Manager Fiona McPhie outlined the
Scottish Biomass Support Scheme.
The bioenergy seminar concluded with lively
group discussions on the challenges and opportunities facing
the sector.
Seminar Presentations
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Northern WoodHeat training course 13-16 Nov 2006
The second Northern WoodHeat training course was held at the
Scottish School of Forestry from the 13-16 Nov. It was taught
to a group of 14 enthusiastic delegates
from a wide range of backgrounds and covered issues
surrounding woodfuel production and supply, boiler scaling and
acquisition and business strategies. Delegates also had the
chance to see the new woodfuel boiler installations at the
Scottish School of Forestry and at the new Aviemore North
development.
For further details of training delivered by Northern WoodHeat
please contact the Project Manager on
fiona.mcphie@highlandbirchwoods.co.uk |
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Iceland
Symposium august 2006
The second Northern WoodHeat symposium was held in
Hallormsstadur, Iceland on August 21-23 2006. Organised by our
partners at Heradsskogar, it was hosted in collaboration with
the SNS (Nordic Forest Research Co-operation Committee)
project "Harvesting Bioenergy in young forest stands". It was
attended by about 60 delegates from several European countries
who heard a wide range of presentations on the potential for
woodfuel in Iceland as well as examples of woodfuel usage
elsewhere. The delegates also enjoyed a tour of the forest at
Hallormstadir on Icelandic horses.
Symposium Abstracts,
Presentations and Television News Clip |
CONFERENCE JUNE 2006
The WENET conference Wood Energy Solutions was
held in Koli, Finland from 6-10 June. Hosted by WENET, Northern WoodHeat and the
Baltic Biomass Network, the conference was attended by about 100 delegates from
all over Europe, and provided an excellent opportunity to discuss progress in
the wood energy industry in different European countries. For more information,
and to download the presentations from this event please go to http://www.wenet.fi/eng/cfmldocs/index.cfm?ID=1183 |
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Exhibitions MAY
2006
Northern
WoodHeat was present at both the Scottish Woodfair in Perth
(May 16th-17th),
and the All Energy Exhibition in Aberdeen (May 24th) |
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AWARD
Highland Wood Energy were nominated in the
Best New Business category of the 2005 Scottish Green Energy Awards. More
information on the awards can be found here
http://www.scottishrenewables.com/gea/
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Training Course march 2006
 The
first Northern WoodHeat training course was held at the
Scottish School of Forestry in March 2006. It was developed and
delivered by project partners from NCP and Metla, and attended
by 14 delegates from various backgrounds. The course covered
Fuel Supply Chain Development, Boiler Technology and Scaling,
Boiler Economy and Heat Energy Business strategies.
The next course will be held in the week beginning 13th
November - to put your name down for this please contact Fiona
McPhie
fiona.mcphie@highlandbirchwoods.co.uk
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Biomass Production:
Energy from Forestry and Agriculture November 2005
This conference took
place at the Eight Acres Hotel in Elgin, Scotland on the 21st
and 22nd of November. It was jointly organised by
Northern WoodHeat, three other
biomass development projects – North Sea Bio Energy,
ProBioEnergy and the Highlands and Islands Woodfuel
Development Programme – and the Highlands and Islands
Community Energy Company.
 It
brought together over 100 delegates from 11 European
countries, and was opened by Rhona Brankin, the Scottish
Executive’s Deputy Minister for Environment and Rural
Development. Speakers and delegates were drawn from a wide
variety of backgrounds and fields of expertise and talks
covered ranged from EU and Scottish policy on biomass to
details of practical experience of bioenergy production and
logistic and technical issues.
The full programme of
talks can be found here and each one can be downloaded in pdf
format.
Highland Wood Energy have been
nominated for the Scottish Green Energy Awards 2005 in the
"Best New Business" Category.
Conference presentations -CLICK HERE
PRESS ARTICLES CLICK HERE
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NORTHERN
WOODHEAT TRAILBLAZERS 26TH SEPTEMBER 2005
Wood Energy enthusiasts from
across Scotland met recently in Tomintoul to develop
collaboration within the wood fuel supply chain at a seminar
organised by Aboyne based timber co-operative DWP Harvesting
and Marketing as part of the Northern WoodHeat Project.
 Around
50 people from North, West, East and Central Scotland and the
Borders took part in the day's events including forest owners,
sawmillers, foresters from the Forestry Commission and private
and voluntary sectors, contractors and consultants and
delegates from Forestry and Timber Association, Highlands and
Islands Enterprise and Scottish Rural Property and Business
Association.
Northern Woodheat Project
Manager Fiona McPhie chaired the indoor session that started
with a presentation by DWP Harvesting and Marketing Director
Andrew Nicol on Collaborating to Develop Small and Medium
Scale Woodfuel Supply Chains emphasising the need for all
involved to work together to maximise the increasing
opportunities within the Bioenergy Sector.
Asko Puhakka from the
Finnish North Karelia Polytechnic presented Promoting
Enterpreneurship and Bioenergy Utilisation- together with
a second session on Energy Solutions – Making Decisions.
He highlighted Finnish experience and the co-operative
business models used by energy entrepreneurs in North Karelia.
Hamish Walls of SAOS had outlined case study examples of
Successful co-operation: case studies
from Scotland and Sweden.
The presentations led on to
lively group discussions
before a coach was boarded to visit to the Cairn Daimh
fuelwood harvesting trial site on Glenlivet Estate where Paul
Webster of Technical Development branch of Forest Research
gave an update on the trial’s progress to date. This was
followed by a demonstration of trailer mounted and tractor
mounted wood chippers.
Andrew Nicol commented "I am delighted at the
enthusiastic response we have had to this seminar. We chose
the right time with increasing awareness of global warming and
concern over the rising price of oil and gas. Bioenergy
provides over 60% of all renewable energy within the EU. Most
of this comes from wood fuelled district heating schemes which
heat whole villages and towns in Scandinavia, Austria and
elsewhere. Here in the UK we have a job ahead of us to catch
up."
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Symposium 2005, June 6-9
Joensuu Finland
 The
first Northern WoodHeat Symposium was held in the Finnish
Forest Research Institute (Metla) building in Joensuu. This
building has only recently been completed and is an inspiring
architectural example of what can be achieved using wood.
 The
Symposium was preceded by the International Steering Group
Meeting, which was followed in the evening by a visit to the Vainoniemi
Villa where everyone was treated to friendly Finnish
hospitality which included food and drink by a roaring wood
fire in a soapstone fireplace, and sauna followed by a plunge
in the beautiful lake for those who were brave!
On Monday morning the Symposium began at 8.30 with
presentations until lunch, followed by an outing to the Eno district heating
plant and the
Tulikivi soapstone factory. The day was rounded off with a
visit to the beautiful Koli
National Park, where we admired the stunning views from the
highest point in Southern Finland.
 Tuesday
was entirely taken up with presentations which were very
varied and extremely interesting, and covered a wide range of
issues central to woodfuel supply. A summary of symposium
presentations can be found
here
where they can also be
downloaded in full in pdf format. In the evening, delegates
were treated to a symposium dinner held in the great hall of
the METLA building and enjoyed traditional Finnish and
Icelandic music.
 Wednesday was a day of site visits, which began with a talk on
Finnish heating technologies while on the bus. The first visit
was to Outokumpu to a ‘Bioenergy Day’ where the extraction and
chipping of forest biomass was demonstrated and everyone was
able to enjoy fire and food in the woods.
 The next visit was to
the Nitylahti pellet boiler which provides heating for a
nursery and primary school. A civic lunch in the Joensuu town
hall followed with a presentation by the Director of
International Relations on many aspects of life in Joensuu. In
the afternoon, there was a visit to the John Deere Forestry
factory to find out about the latest developments in
harvesting and forwarding equipment. The delegates then
returned to the METLA building for the conclusion of the
seminar and an informal discussion.
Thursday was a day of workshops, with people forming small
groups to attend
sessions on the following subjects:
Business Models
Training in Woodfuel
GIS (Geographical Information Systems)
Cost Structures of Woodfuel
Ener-tree (Model for monitoring nutrient
impacts of biomass removal)
Throughout the week everyone was effusive about the high
standard of both the symposium and the hospitality that had
been organized for the delegates.
I’m sure everyone would like to say ‘Thank you Finland’
Conference presentations - CLICK HERE
Sandie Beck, Highland Birchwoods
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Finnish Partners visit Scotland April 2005
In April, a party of visitors from NCP, Metla and Josek
visited Highland
Birchwoods in order to meet key actors in the Scottish
woodfuel industry, and to visit existing installations and
harvesting sites, in order to gain a direct understanding of
the current situation of the woodfuel industry in Scotland.
This visit was very productive for all, and provided the
necessary contacts and grounding for the Feasibility Study
Scotland and the production of Northern WoodHeat’s
transnational training material. 
Sites visited included the National Trust for Scotland visitor
centre, Glencoe and Torren holiday cottages which are both
heated by woodchip installations, and Highland Wood Energy and
Woodtherm Fuels – two of Northern WoodHeat’s partners who are
involved in the installation of boilers and production and
delivery of woodchip - all in the Lochaber area. We visited
the
boilers at the Averon Centre, Alness and Bettyhill
Swimming Pool, and heard about some of the problems and challenges these
projects had faced, particularly in relation to quality and
stability of fuel supply. We also spent some time in
Caithness where we saw the location of the planned Wick
District Heating Scheme, and visited woodfuel harvesting sites
which could supply it owned by both the Forestry Commission
and by private landowners.
We finished the week by visiting Glenlivet to see the first of
Northern WoodHeat’s harvesting and drying trials in progress.
Highland Birchwoods would like to thank everyone involved in
the visits and meetings during the week for being so helpful
and accommodating.
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Northern WoodHeat launched at Kinlochleven Community Centre
FEBRUARY 2005
Northern
WoodHeat was launched at Kinlochleven Community Centre on 15th
February 2005. Delegates from a range of backgrounds,
including representatives of the project’s partners, gathered
to hear Cllr Michael Foxley, Vice-convenor of the Highland
Council, make the opening address, during which he emphasised
the need for increased awareness of the benefits of using woodfuel in order to counteract a lack of confidence in
woodfuel markets.
The themes of
awareness and confidence recurred in talks given by several
other speakers. Fiona McPhie, Highland Birchwoods’ woodfuel
Project Officer outlined the project’s aims and the research
and development activities it will undertake. Rebecca Carr of
the Forestry Commission talked about the Highlands and Islands
Woodfuel Development programme which is setting up local
clusters of woodfuel users and suppliers, and Bruno Berardelli
of Highland Wood Energy described the wide variety of
wood-fuelled heating technologies available for installation
at domestic and business scales. Other speakers included
Elizabeth Marshall of the Highland Council who talked about
the Scottish Green Energy award-winning Wick Community Heating
scheme, with which Northern WoodHeat has close links, Bob McIlwraith of ALIenergy who talked about his experiences
working with communities and woodfuel in Argyll, and Jon
Hollingdale of Dunnet Forestry Trust who gave a
thought-provoking talk on woodfuel as part of the management
of a community woodland. Andrew Nicol of DWP marketing and
harvesting rounded the day off by talking about co-operative
approaches to woodfuel.
Throughout the
day, there was much interesting discussion of how best to
direct and promote the use of woodfuel as a sustainable source
of renewable energy. During the course of the 3 year project
there will be several other events aimed at publicising the
project’s findings which will provide further opportunities
for exchange of ideas and updates on progress within the
growing woodfuel industry. Details of all events will be
posted on this website.
John Thurso MP
said “Northern WoodHeat is an imaginative and exciting project
which offers the potential to harness natural resources and to
produce efficient and environmentally-friendly heating
systems. I wish the project good luck and much success as it
will be an important contributor to using local resources for
local benefit”.
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Wick District Heating Scheme wins prestigious award
FEBRUARY 2005
The Wick District
Heating Scheme Co-operative, with which Northern WoodHeat will have
close links, won the award for Best Community Initiative as part of
the Scottish Green Energy Awards 2004. More information about the
awards can be found here:
http://www.scottishrenewables.com/gea/
The article below
appeared in the Press and Journal on the 11th February 2005.
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INTERNATIONAL LAUNCH FOR VILLAGE WOOD FUEL PROJECT
FEBRUARY 2005
KEN JONES
09:00 - 11 February 2005
A Lochaber village where there are proposals to provide heating from waste timber is to host the launch of an international wood fuel project.
Northern WoodHeat, which aims to encourage the use of wood fuel resources, will bring together 16 partners from as far afield as Scotland, Iceland and Finland for the event at Kinlochleven on February 15.
The delegates from national forestry organisations, educational institutions, government agencies and commercial companies will gather at the village's community centre which is heated by its own woodfuel boiler, installed and maintained by one of the project partners, Highland Wood Energy.
Highland Council is also investigating a project which could see the Loch Leven-side community's heating and domestic hot water supplies provided by a wood fuel system.
Highland Council vice-convener Michael Foxley will make the opening address and a number of speakers will discuss the use of wood fuel from different perspectives.
Financed by the EU's Northern Periphery Programme and a range of national funding sources, the project will research and develop working woodfuel supply chains.
These will focus on areas of northern Europe where part, or all, of the woodfuel resource is unexploited but could be developed at a local scale to pave the way for a functional and sustainable wood fuel industry.
Project leaders say it could help peripheral areas of Scotland to tackle high fuel prices and difficulties with energy supply.
The National Grid is working at almost full capacity in many places, yet approximately 40% of electrical demand is for heat.
Producing heat directly from wood fuel would reduce the demand for electricity and ease the pressure on the National Grid.
A spokesman for the organisation said: "Wood is the most plentiful source of renewable energy in Scotland, but at the moment we just aren't using it.
"In the UK, the available forest resource greatly exceeds the current demand, and around 60% of this unused resource is in Scotland."
The project will test different wood fuel harvesting, production and transport techniques to determine which are economically viable at the small and medium scale, and which are most beneficial to long term forest development.
It will also encourage different business models for wood fuel supply and will include those based on estate-farm, community and co-operative facilities to ensure development of business strategies that maximise the potential for local involvement.
Fiona McPhie, Highland Birchwoods' Woodfuel project officer, said the aim was to further knowledge of how to maintain sustainable wood fuel supply chains.
It would have links with the Wick district heating scheme, which recently won recognition as the best community initiative as part of the Scottish Green Energy Awards.
The Scottish Executive's Forum for Renewable Energy last week released a report on the future of biomass technology in Scotland, which highlighted the importance of establishing a viable wood fuel supply industry.
Anyone wishing to attend the launch or find out more about the project should contact Ms McPhie on 01463 811653 or by email info@northernwoodheat.net
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Click on the flags below to find out more information about Northern Woodheat in these countries.
  
For more information about Northern WoodHeat, the website updates or woodfuel use in general contact:
The Project Manager,
Highland Birchwoods,
Littleburn Road,
Munlochy IV8 8NN |
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Email: info@northernwoodheat.net
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