Nottingham TreeStation

Transcription

1 ] Nottingham TreeStation A Research report on the analysis of the energy potential, processing options and possible end use of waste woody biomass arising from the city of Nottingham A report for Prepared by ReNU ltd working in partnership with BioRegional Consulting Ltd Bruce Boucher Consultancy Ltd Mr Nick Lipman Funded by

2 Executive Summary This report has been written at a time of great change with national regional and local policies driving forward significant reductions in CO 2 emissions into the environment. Using biomass as a low carbon fuel to replace fossil fuels provides a significant opportunity to achieve some of these reductions. Regionally and locally, demand for biomass fuels is rapidly growing from co-firing large power stations, small sub 5MW power generation and small public/private boiler installations for heating. Waste wood locally and nationally provides a potentially huge resource if it could be turned into fuel but there are significant difficulties in sorting out contaminated supplies. This work has researched waste wood arisings from the city of Nottingham without an existing market, and estimated them to be approximately 19,000 tonnes per annum, currently disposed of at a cost of approximately 345,000. Of this 5,117 tonnes is under direct city council control. A TreeStation (or wood processing facility) is a proven way of sustainably turning wood residues into useable biomass fuel. Wood residues from tree surgeons, landscapers and city council sources suitable for a TreeStation are estimated to be approximately 16,000 tonnes, with significant other potential sources identified. These residues when processed through the TreeStation would produce approximately 12,000 tonnes of useful wood chip. For biomass heat only this would be enough to provide the annual fuel demands of approximately 15-20MW of installed capacity, assuming a common capacity factor of 20% and plant efficiency of 85%. The 31,355MWh (based on 85% efficiency) of delivered heat would offset approximately 6,271 tonnes of CO 2 if replacing mains gas (increasing when offsetting oil and electricity use). For CHP (Combined heat and Power), based on the assumption of using 12,000 tonnes of woodfuel at a moisture content of 45% and calorific value of 3,000kWh per tonne, a typical plant efficiency for small scale biomass CHP of 75% and 12% electrical and 63% heat output. The CO 2 savings for a CHP system would be approximately 5,022 tonnes per annum. Using a baseline scenario the TreeStation is forecast to break even in year 3 (assuming no grant funding) and in year 2 (with grant funding). This is equivalent to using a feedstock of around 6,500t and 8,500 tonnes respectively. The resource of waste wood residues available is clearly sufficient to create a financially viable TreeStation. Indicative capital costs involved in establishing a TreeStation have been estimated at 334,688 with operating costs of around 313,880. Nottingham TreeStation Report-January 2009 Page 2

3 Various TreeStation ownership scenarios are examined including city council, social enterprise and private, including the potential benefits of retaining profits within a social enterprise and using them for wider goals within the city (including carbon reduction). The City could more easily meet its targets if the production of the TreeStation could be used in its own district heating scheme. This also offers the attractive prospect of ownership of the supply and the end use of its own waste wood. The current unused London Rd district heating boiler has been found to be unsuitable for conversion to biomass because of the cost of such a conversion, the inadequate fuel storage area on the site, and the logistic difficulties of delivering fuel. Several alternative methods using biomass within the district heating scheme are considered, including a remote Combined Heat and Power plant, a remote biomass gasification plant to supply the London rd boiler, and also a novel scheme using satellite heating stations. This option is now being examined further. Nottingham TreeStation Report-January 2009 Page 3

4 Contents Page Section 1 Introduction 3 Section 2 Background 3 Section 3 Methodology 6 Section 4 Findings 6 Section 5 Further consideration of the demand for biomass fuels 10 Section 6 Conclusions 15 Section 7 Recommendations and next steps 16 Appendix 1 Appendix 2 Appendix 3 References Background to the Partners involved in the work Acknowledgements Strand 1 report Strand 2 report Strand 3 report 1. Introduction This report has been commissioned by the Nottingham Energy Partnership funded by the Greater Nottingham Partnership through a tender for the supply of a full and detailed feasibility study into the availability, type and economic viability of the clean biomass waste wood resource suitable for a TreeStation (wood processing facility) within the city of Nottingham. This report sets the context of the project and provides a brief summary of the three principal strands of work that have been undertaken, namely: 1. Understanding the biomass resource available 2. Examining the London Road facility feasibility of using biomass 3. Planning the TreeStation This report should be read in conjunction with the reports detailing strands 1, 2 and 3 given in the appendices. The findings of these stands are brought together in this work to reach conclusions concerning the availability of suitable waste wood resource, make recommendations on the feasibility of using biomass for the London Rd facility, and the viability of a Tree station within the city and the anticipated demand that such a tree station could support. 2. Background The project has been carried out during a time of great change. The background being one of an urgent need to meet the challenge of climate change, reduce carbon dioxide emissions and the parallel urgency of providing sustainable local energy sources to protect the energy security of the city of Nottingham in the face of long term rising energy costs, the global issue of fossil fuel depletion and a serious economic recession. Nottingham TreeStation Report-January 2009 Page 4

5 Policy context Delivering the EU and UK Governments carbon reduction targets for a 20% target cut in carbon emissions by 2020 and national initiatives such as Local Authority NI185/NI186 targets all add up to a considerable pressure for carbon dioxide emission reduction. Biomass fuelled energy generation will have an important role to play in meeting the UK share of the 20% European Union (EU) renewable energy target, and the legally binding commitment to meet 80% by It has been estimated that recovering energy from 2 million tonnes of waste wood could generate 2600GWh electricity and save 1.15 million tonnes of carbon dioxide equivalent emissions, with greater benefits available by recovering heat as well as power 5. Its use can therefore contribute significantly to the achievement of these targets. The Nottingham Context Local authorities are uniquely placed to provide vision and leadership to local communities by raising awareness and influencing changes in local behaviour, and with their powers over planning, housing, and local transport etc can have significant influence over emissions in their local areas. The City of Nottingham has always been a pioneering city and has recently demonstrated its commitment to a low carbon future for the city in the following ways: In 2006 a climate change strategy was adopted alongside a commitment to become a carbon neutral council by 2016 In 2007 the city adopted the Merton rule which required all new developments over 1000m 2 to reduce their carbon footprint by 10% using low or zero carbon energy sources In 2008 the city passed a motion recognising peak oil and the importance of fossil fuel reserves depletion In 2008, the Covenant of Mayors was signed to reconfirm their commitment to reducing CO 2 emissions. This Covenant represents a strong formal commitment to reduce CO 2 emissions beyond the EU objective of a 20% cut by 2020 through the submission of a sustainable Energy Action plan Thus developing a common theme to increase the use of renewable energy resources within the city. The use of woody biomass to replace fossil fuels for heating and power generation is a well established route to achieving this. 2.1 Biomass Supply On a national scale the real benefits of woodfuel are becoming increasingly important. Regionally a lot of work has been done in recent years stimulating both the supply of and demand for woodfuel with more than 50 biomass installations and 15MW (thermal) of generation from woodfuels replacing fossil fuel. The energy markets for recycling and clean virgin wood/energy crops have therefore been growing in recent years. In this market growth for biomass, waste wood has been a largely overlooked resource. This is in part due to it often arising as part of a mixed waste stream, with limited availability of facilities for its segregation, and also a result of its potentially contaminated nature (depending on the source), which often makes recycling impractical. It is estimated that around 10 million tonnes of waste wood are Nottingham TreeStation Report-January 2009 Page 5

6 produced in the UK each year 1, the majority of which goes into landfill and eventually decomposes with methane emission. Assuming the global warming potential of methane is 21 times that of CO 2. 7 the waste wood itself becomes a damaging product. This waste represents a significant missed opportunity. The significant carbon and energy benefits of recovering energy from waste wood have been highlighted in a number of recent publications, including the Waste Strategy for England , in which waste wood was identified as one of a number of priority materials for action, the UK Biomass Strategy 3 and the Energy White Paper 4. Wood waste in the city therefore represents a significant untapped and largely un-quantified low carbon biomass energy resource. Trees are a vital part of any urban environment and they have environmental, social, aesthetic and economic values. Their management and care creates significant levels of residues, and legislation derived tools such as landfill tax and recycling credits (as well as market forces such as increasing fossil fuel costs) are pushing the better use of these residue materials and for them to be increasingly viewed as a resource. There are a number of ways this resource can be processed and used and this study aims to understand the nature of the waste wood resource available for a processing facility within the city of the TreeStation type. 2.2 Biomass demand Understanding and developing the supply side of woody biomass is an important part of this study but it is equally important that the demand side of the market equation is also well understood. The basis of this has to be that any investment in developing the supply of Biomass would be wasted if there was no demand for the fuel itself. Therefore examining the possible demand for Biomass within the city is an important part of this study. The potential demand is seen to arise from two potential areas; Nottingham City is unique in the UK in that it already has the only city wide combined heat and power scheme in the UK. This district heating scheme represents a huge asset and is owned and managed by the City Council. This scheme is centred on the London Rd Heat station, the primary fuel for which comes from the Eastcroft Incinerator site where 150,000 tonnes of household and commercial waste are burned to generate steam to drive the turbo alternators at the Heat station 6. As well as obtaining the steam from the Eastcroft incinerator site the London Rd heat station has the capability of creating its own steam from 2 converted boilers fossil fuel fired by natural gas. Thus the feasibility of converting one of the coal boilers to biomass (ideally sourced locally) is an important feature of this study. On a national, regional and local scale the uptake of biomass for standalone heat and heat/power installations is increasing rapidly and Nottingham City is no exception to this so no analysis of demand for waste wood as a fuel would be complete without developing a view of potential demand from actual and potential installations other than the district heating scheme. Both of these demand routes could potentially be supplied by an improved local supply of processed woody biomass such as from a TreeStation. Nottingham TreeStation Report-January 2009 Page 6

7 2.3 Biomass processing After looking at the supply and demand possibilities within the city, there is an intermediate stage required which involves processing the biomass residues originating in the city to create a useful fuel for installations. The TreeStation is BioRegional s model of a place where wood residues are collected, processed into quality woodfuel and then supplied for use in local biomass installations. The TreeStation concept offers multiple benefits for the local economy, environment and society and is able to process clean wood residues received from a range of sectors. Therefore this study aims to develop an understanding of the supply of suitable wood waste within the city, its potential use to fuel the district heating scheme, and how it might be processed through a TreeStation, either for the district heating scheme, or, if this is impractical, to fuel wider demand for biomass within the area. 3. Methodology From the above discussion the study was divided into three methods of study with appropriate allocation of areas of expertise amongst the research partners and the work conducted in three strands as follows Strand 1/. Understanding the biomass resource available Develop an understanding of the potential wood-fuel resource suitable to supply a tree station available within the city from the standpoint of volume, quality and economics. This strand utilised Mr Nick Lipman s local knowledge and expertise working with ReNU Ltd on wider issues. Strand 2/. Examining the London Rd Facility ; Examine the capability of the large unused coal boiler at the London Road Heat Station for conversion or replacement, including an outline assessment of possible biomass transport options from processing to a boiler site. This strand utilised the Engineering and Biomass knowledge of Bruce Boucher Consultants. Strand3/. Planning the TreeStation; Examine and develop the business, economic and environmental case for the local processing of the available wood waste though a wood processing site or TreeStation, This strand utilised the outstanding knowledge and experience of BCL the founders of the Croydon TreeStation. These three strands of work are presented in individual reports in Appendices 4, 5 and 6 respectively. This summary report is designed to bring together the findings of the three strands and examine the prospect of the city creating a local supply chain for biomass to meet its own local requirements and help considerably in meeting its carbon dioxide emissions targets. Nottingham TreeStation Report-January 2009 Page 7

8 4 Findings 4.1 Strand 1: Understanding the Biomass Resource Available This aspect of the study was designed to develop an understanding of the potential wood resource currently available within the waste stream of the city suitable to supply a tree station. The quantity, quality, and disposal costs associated with the resource being carefully assessed. The detail report is presented in Appendix 1 and the key points are; Waste wood potential available A resource assessment identified 19,028 tonnes of clean wood residues potentially available for processing at a TreeStation Producers of these wood residues currently spend an estimated 345,000 on disposal Experience nationally demonstrates that waste residues produced through arboricultural, tree surgery and landscaping operations is the preferred choice of supply for establishing a TreeStation based on the reduced likelihood of contamination. Assuming these sources only will initially be used, the resource available in Nottingham has been found to be as follows: Source Tonnes available per annum Tree works ( tree surgeons) 5440 Landscapers 5269 Council 5172 Total 15,881 These figures are used in the evaluation of the business case for the TreeStation Approximately an additional 16,000 tonnes of waste wood is currently recycled from trade and domestic waste through Wastecycle Ltd however much of this is could be contaminated and therefore not appropriate for producing high quality wood chip for modern biomass boilers without careful sorting and selection Location of waste wood supplies A mapping exercise to locate wood residue producers identified a fairly random distribution of sources. This informed the search for potential TreeStation sites in that no location would appear to have a more attractive catchment area of potential suppliers. Therefore the decision on the location of a TreeStation can be made based upon access, planning and economics rather than proximity to a particular supplier Interpretation of results The figure of 19,028 tonnes of clean wood waste has been calculated by extrapolating data from a resource assessment survey. It should therefore be noted that there is potential for a significant margin of error using the figures for council operations, tree surgeons and landscapers. If resources are overestimated, the report identified a significant number of other supplies that can be targeted to increase feedstock inflow into the TreeStation. The TreeStation would have the capacity to deal with Nottingham TreeStation Report-January 2009 Page 8

9 significantly increased supplies should the figures be underestimated Strand 2 Examining the London Rd Facility The existing London Rd facility was examined in detail to assess the feasibility of converting the site to biomass fuel. This is fully documented in Appendix 5 and its findings are summarised below. The Coal Fired Boiler at the London Road Heat Station, although maintained and protected well, is not suitable for conversion to biomass firing primarily for the following reasons: The cost of equipment and structural/engineering/civils works required to convert the primary furnace is prohibitive There is insufficient space for the required woodfuel storage at the existing site The prospect of using the canal as a method of delivering woodfuel to the site is unlikely due to the size of barge and frequencies of deliveries required to deliver the volume of fuel needed The maximum output following any conversion of the existing boiler to a biomass operation, would be in the region of 12 MW. If it is decided to remove the existing coal fired boiler & install a new biomass boiler, limitations on storage capacity and logistic pressures mean the existing capacity of 25 MW could probably not be realised. The existing flue stack may need modifying to receive emissions from a biomass boiler The required flue stack would need to be higher than the new adjacent building to avoid air flow problems and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAH) emissions. This report therefore concludes that biomass would not be a suitable fuel for the London Rd station However, there may be other opportunities to integrate biomass installations with the district heating system. It is understood that the London Road Heat Station services many other areas of the City and that even if the output is augmented by increased Steam from the Eastcroft incinerator site, the existing district heating network may well need extending. To extend the existing network may involve the upgrade of existing underground pipe-work to larger diameters, to increase heat through-put. This could prove a very expensive and labour intensive exercise. The review concluded that it may be possible to extend the existing infrastructure by way of satellite biomass heat installations. Lower temperature water, typically the return water going back to the London Road site could flow through the primary side of a new heat exchanger. The secondary side would be connected to a new biomass boiler which would raise the lower temperature up to the design working temperature. This so called satellite proposal is being investigated under a separate study and will be reported on at later date. Because of the limitations of the site discussed previously straightforward replacement of the boiler would not provide the same capacity and still present logistics problems supplying the large quantities of biomass required, however a new large boiler (potentially CHP) of 25MW capacity could be installed at a location remote to London Rd and steam pumped into the system Also potentially a new biomass gasifier could be installed at a location remote to London Rd and produce gas to fuel the existing gas boilers or a new gas boiler on the London Rd site Nottingham TreeStation Report-January 2009 Page 9

10 4.3 Strand 3 Planning the TreeStation This report addresses how wood residues identified can be processed into wood chip and supplied to local biomass heat facilities (and biomass combined heat and power - CHP), along with the prerequisites and financial implications associated with such an operation. The work is based on BioRegional s TreeStation concept (the first example of which was established in Croydon in 2001). The search for a site to host a TreeStation identified three potential sites, the most suitable of which is a council-owned piece of land in the Colwick Park area, near to Nottingham Race Course and the Colwick Hall Hotel. This site has been further evaluated and details provided on potential environmental and planning issues associated with its development. Indicative capital costs involved in establishing a TreeStation on this site (or similar) have been estimated at 334,688 and operating costs of around 313,880. Using a baseline model of the TreeStation assuming output based on the identified resource, the following three scenarios have been modelled based on the following criteria: Scenarios Land ownership Council Council Council CAPEX Council Council Social ent Council 3rd party OPEX Council Social enterprise Social ent 3rd party Land lease none Social enterprise Social ent 3rd party Gate fee Social receiver Council Social enterprise Council ent Fuel sales Council Social enterprise Social ent 3rd party Management Council Social enterprise Social enterprise Operation Council Social enterprise 3rd party Scenario 1 In this scenario Nottingham City Council develop its own TreeStation. This scenario provides a management and an operation base for comparison with scenario 2 and 3. It involves the council managing (or subcontracting) all aspects of the TreeStation including cash flow, office and site operations, fuel sales and delivery etc. Scenario 2 This scenario is a partnership between a social enterprise organisation and the council, with the social enterprise managing and operating the TreeStation. Both the council and the social enterprise provide the start up costs or capital expenditure (capex) and the social enterprise finances the operating costs (opex). Nottingham TreeStation Report-January 2009 Page 10

11 Any surplus made by the social enterprise is either fed back into the TreeStation operations in the form of training or increasing the number of staff if appropriate, or used for wider social goals in Nottingham possibly relating to carbon reduction, for example to the promotion of biomass as a fuel, environmental training, employment creation or woodland management. Scenario 3 Scenario 3 is based on a three way partnership between the council, a social enterprise organisation and a third party operator (e.g. a tree surgeon or forestry company). The success of the TreeStation will depend on the competency of those delivering each activity. This scenario aims to capitalise on the strengths of each partner to deliver their individual activities. For example the third party operator will be used for processing activities and the social enterprise will focus primarily on the office management. The available feedstock identified for the TreeStation is considered a baseline for the TreeStation operation. Further increases in production could occur with the additional supply from woodlands and the likely increase in interest due to marketing and increasing landfill tax. The wood chip output (in tonnes) required for a TreeStation to break even is a fluid figure, highly dependent on the gate fee, customer base (e.g. proportion of small scale users paying more for their fuel) the target number of years for breaking even, etc. The ownership of the site will also impact on the distribution of income and therefore breakeven point for each stakeholder involved. The base model developed for the Nottingham TreeStation assumes supplies start in month 7 of year 1 with 400 tonnes per month, increasing incrementally by 40 tonnes each month until the current resource identified is met (c.16,000 tonnes per annum). Figure 29 below illustrates the total and cumulative outputs for the modelled TreeStation. Total supplies Cumulative Total output Cumulative received supplies received (tonnes) output (tonnes) (tonnes) (tonnes) Year 1 3,000 3,000 2,250 2,250 Year 2 10,320 13,320 7,740 9,990 Year 3 15,750 29,070 11,810 21,800 Figure 1 Total and cumulative outputs of the TreeStation Using a baseline scenario the TreeStation breaks even in year 3 (assuming no grant funding) and in year 2 (with grant funding). This is equivalent to around 6,500t and 8,500 tonnes respectively. When fully operational the 16,000 tonnes of wood residues available in Nottingham (identified as part of Strand 1 of the project) when processed through the TreeStation would produce approximately 12,000 tonnes of wood chip, the reduction in quantity is due to the removal of fines. For biomass heat only this would be enough to provide the annual fuel demands of approximately 15-20MW of installed capacity, assuming a common capacity factor of 20% and plant efficiency of 85%. The 31,355MWh (based on 85% efficiency) of delivered heat would offset approximately 6,271 tonnes of CO 2 if replacing mains gas (increasing when offsetting oil and electricity use). Nottingham TreeStation Report-January 2009 Page 11

12 The CO2 savings for a CHP system would be approximately 5,022 tonnes per annum, assuming use of 12,000 tonnes of woodfuel at a moisture content of 45% and calorific value of 3,000kWh per tonne, a typical plant efficiency for small scale biomass CHP of 75% and 12% electrical and 63% heat output. The research demonstrated that the wood residue resource identified by this project could provide a commercially viable TreeStation producing around 12, 000 tonnes of quality wood chip for use as a biomass fuel. The report demonstrates the clear commercial viability of the TreeStation using any of the scenarios and provides guidance as to the benefits of each scenario to inform a decision on the preferred model. It was also recommended that a further study is commissioned to survey all of the woodlands in Nottingham or Nottinghamshire as preferred, producing GIS mapping of the areas, quantifying potential sustainable yield classes, identifying existing/competing users and producing an overarching management framework for all the woodlands together as well as individual management plans for each site. 5. Further consideration of the demand for biomass fuels. Whilst the research has demonstrated the availability of a significant waste wood resource for the production of biomass fuel and the commercial viability of a TreeStation in Nottingham, it would be pointless if there was no demand for its wood chip biomass fuel. Ideally from the city council point of view, the 12,000 tonnes of biomass fuel created by the TreeStation would probably be best used to fuel its district heating scheme and considerably help to meet its targets, including its corporate and community carbon reduction targets and thereby reducing the potential carbon reduction liabilities on the council. However the research demonstrated the existing London rd facility was unsuitable for conversion to Biomass, but a similar effect could be achieved by building; a new CHP boiler at a remote location to the London Rd site and piping the heat in to London Rd a new remote biomass gasifier piping in the gas to fuel the existing London rd site or the installation of satellite booster stations (work is being continued on this option). Therefore whilst the future of biomass fuel for the district heating option is uncertain, the TreeStation modelling research was based upon supplying alternative installations with its wood chip product. The study was therefore continued to assess whether there would be sufficient demand for the TreeStation s production from other sources, and this section of the report details these findings Anecdotally finding other customers for 12,000 tonnes of wood chip would not be expected to be a problem because: o It is widely recognised that fossil fuels are set to rise in prices, fuelled by increasing demand and declining stocks post peak oil. The recent spike in prices is now behind us but the trend is expected to continue upwards. At some point in increasing prices of fossil fuels biomass boilers become the low cost option, when that point is reached demand is expected to increase dramatically. o National policies initiatives such a Renewable Obligation Certificates (ROC s) and Feed in Tariffs (FIT s) designed to met the national carbon reduction targets are already dramatically increasing demand for biomass Nottingham TreeStation Report-January 2009 Page 12

13 o Increasing social awareness of the effect of CO2 on global warming is stimulating the uptake of biomass to satisfy corporate and public social responsibility on the issue o Increasing costs associated with meeting carbon reduction commitments and prevailing carbon trading prices place a strong incentive on eligible organisations to fund carbon reducing processes (recently exacerbated by the falling exchange rate) o Local targets such as the Merton rule and building regulations are pushing up demand for low carbon fuels to heat and power buildings o Local schools have been found to be the single largest source of carbon emissions within the city emitting 35% of the entire emissions from city council operations. The use of biomass in reducing this situation is well proven as they are often ideally suited for conversion. Quantifying this anecdotal evidence can be difficult but various pieces of information help to build up an interesting picture. Within the UK the demand for biomass is predicted to increase from the following sources Large scale Power Generation Micro-generation CHP plants taking advantage of ROCS and FITs, Boiler Installations for heating, consisting of; Public boiler installations, Private commercial boiler installations, Domestic boiler installations Large scale Power Generation Since April 2002 all UK licensed electricity suppliers have been obliged to obtain a proportion of the electricity they sell from a selection of eligible renewable sources, currently 6.9%. The goal is to reach 20% by For every 1,000 units (1MWh) of green electricity an energy company generates they receive one ROC. A company that generates more than its renewable obligation, for example a wind farm, can then sell ROCs to energy suppliers who have failed to meet their RE obligation, for example coal firing power stations, in turn creating a system by which power companies can meet their obligations for green energy. Within the region the demand for biomass was studied extensively in a Natural England report published last year 6. The work predicted that the 2008 demand for biomass fuel from power generators in the East Midlands was approximately 300,000 ODTPA (Oven Dried Tonnes per Annum). This is estimated to increase six times over to 1,988,000 ODTPA by The status of Renewable Obligation Certificates introduced in 2002 are set to continue to 2027 and are thus providing a stable platform for growth of the biomass power generation sector. These will be fired by a combination of SRC (short rotation coppicing), Miscanthus, and imported woodfuel including chip. It is estimated that the majority of this will be imported. Therefore the capability of the TreeStation is truly dwarfed by the demand for Biomass fuel from local power stations such a Ratcliffe on Trent and Cottam. However for the TreeStation these would be the customers of last resort because the gate prices are historically very low. Commercial small generation CHP (Combined Heat and Power) The onset of double ROCS and soon FITS (Feed in Tariffs) are accelerating the growth of players in the UK with considerable demand for sub 3MW power generation and CHP systems. Initial research consisting of looking at planning applications and discussions within the area uncovered three such potential sites in Nottinghamshire. Widmerpool 3MW- planning permission approved Worksop 2.5 MW- planning permission approved Nottingham TreeStation Report-January 2009 Page 13

14 An old coalfield site in North Nott s where planning permission for a 3MW plant will soon be applied for. Requiring almost 30,000 tonnes per annum each, together these boilers are estimated to require over 100,000 tonnes of biomass woodfuel per annum in the form of wood chip. Predominantly the operators of these boilers will obtain their supplies from waste wood resources such as the pallet and building sectors from waste disposal streams such as skips and trade collections. Therefore again the capability of the TreeStation is dwarfed by the demand for biomass fuel from local small generators. However for the TreeStation, whilst more attractive than the large power generators they would still probably pay lower market prices for the chip they use. Boiler installations for heating, These are predominantly sub 500Kw installations and have been extensively studied in the region in Natural England research County Currently Installed Boiler Capacity (kw) Lincolnshire Nottinghamshire Leicestershire Northamptonshire Derbyshire Rutland County Not Specified Proposed Boiler Capacity by (kw) Total demand in this sector in the region is therefore predicted to be predicted by 2010 to be 55,097 tonnes, shown schematically by county as follows. Biomass demand from boilers Lincolnshire Nottinghamshire Leicestershire Northamptonshire Derbyshire Rutland County Not Specified County Figure 2, County distribution of installations (Information presented courtesy of Natural England 6) Nottingham TreeStation Report-January 2009 Page 14

15 It is interesting to note that the schools heating project within Nottinghamshire means the county has the highest capacity from biomass installations, whilst the Lincolnshire Light project, means Lincolnshire follows as a close second showing the achievement of recent interventions in this market. However these smaller installations are often fuelled by the more convenient wood pellet type biomass fuel and researching further into the results suggested that 31,143 Mw will in fact be supplied in the form of chip. Interestingly the research did not discover any existing or potential installations within the City of Nottingham; therefore further work was needed to investigate this. To investigate current and potential installations within the city a survey was conducted amongst boiler manufacturers to ascertain installations that might become potential customers of the TreeStation. Within the public domain, the following new and existing installations are proposed to be using biomass within the next 2 years. Installation Within the city Castle College Carlton rd Centre Cherry trees Elderly person Home Blueprint Science and technology park Chettles yard student accommodation Nottingham prison Orchard Court Care home Nottingham City Hospital Within 25km Markham Vale Environment centre Nott s Golf club Farnsfield Hall British Geological Society Belvoir castle Total Estimated capacity 150kW 150kW 250kW 250kW 150kW 100kW 2000 kw 100kW 50kW 100kW 1000kW 150kW 4.2MW Note; Nottinghamshire schools are excluded because they are predominantly pellet fired Obviously some of these installations will be pellet fired and the potential for wood chip is estimated to be at least 3MW. It is again expected that these figures are very conservative as boiler manufacturers are reluctant to disclose information for publication due to commercial confidentiality. Promoting future demand To stimulate further demand for TreeStation fuel products there are several useful grants schemes available to promote the type of boiler installations that would use the fuel produced. For example east midlands development agency (emda) Biomass Accelerator programme. This provides grants up to 50% (max 40,000) for potential large users to undertake detailed feasibility Nottingham TreeStation Report-January 2009 Page 15

16 studies of boiler installations and fuel supplies. (This fund closes march 2010) The Bioenergy Capital Grants Scheme is a UK wide initiative, essentially funded by the Department of Energy and Climate Change (DECC) which promotes the efficient use of biomass for energy and in particular the use of energy crops by stimulating the use of biomass fuelled heat and electricity generation projects. It is aimed at organisations from those involved in large scale electricity generation down to deployment of biomass heating and small scale CHP. It funds 40% of the difference in cost of installing the biomass boiler or CHP plant compared to installing the fossil fuel alternative with the maximum single award being 500,000 per installation. (Note this closes for applications at the end of April 09) The Low Carbon Buildings Programme offered by the Department for Business Enterprise & Regulatory Reform (BERR) provides grants for micro-generation technologies for householders (ending 2010), and for community organisations, schools, the public sector and businesses (ending June 2009) Incentives to buy include the Enhanced Capital Allowance (ECA) scheme which enables a business to claim 100% first year capital allowances on their spending on biomass plant and machinery. ECA s can save Corporation Tax payers significantly. As well as promoting grants the uptake of wood chip fuelled biomass systems could also be encouraged by; Offering advice and signposting potential users to sources of information and help. By encouraging the TreeStation to develop a blown delivery system for chip. Many installations in cities automatically select wood pellets as a fuel rather than chip because they require less storage space and are more easily delivered as delivery vehicles can blow the pellet into the storage hopper from the roadside Nottingham TreeStation Report-January 2009 Page 16

17 6. Conclusions Government stimulation of the market for energy from renewable sources is increasing demand for woody biomass as a fuel and this demand is expected to increase significantly over the next few years. Current and expected supply from wood based energy crops such as Short Rotation Coppicing, Miscanthus and forestry management etc are acknowledged to fall well short of the expected demand. Wood waste will therefore become an important potential source of such fuel. The evidence suggests that the City of Nottingham s wood waste is set to become a valuable commodity. The waste wood resource suitable for chipping to manufacture woodfuel within a city TreeStation is conservatively estimated at tonnes, assuming that waste is only taken from tree surgeons, landscape gardeners and Nottingham City Council operations. Of this total at least 5,111 tonnes is directly under the City Council s control, plus considerable opportunities to increase the available resource have been identified. The Council owned district heating system is probably capable of taking the entire output from the TreeStation, though the work found the current disused boiler on the London Rd site was unsuitable for conversion. To become partly biomass fuelled, further consideration is being given to developing novel satellite booster stations to accommodate growth of the scheme or remote CHP/ gasification systems. To achieve the city councils own targets and those set by central government, it would be helpful if a potential TreeStation resource could be used to fuel biomass installations within the city, both those owned by the city council for NI185 (such as the district heating scheme), and for other installations for NI186. If supply to the council owned district heating scheme could be achieved over time, a lot of the woodfuel generated could be used to fuel the district heating giving them significant ownership and control of the whole supply chain. The level of clean wood waste generated in the city of Nottingham creates enough feedstock to supply a financially/technically viable and thereby sustainable TreeStation in the city. The TreeStation in Croydon was visited and this has been seen to deliver a sustainable means of producing wood chip fuel from municipal waste wood arisings. Depending on the objectives of the City Council, various scenarios of TreeStation are illustrated, including a social enterprise route that could deliver additional benefits to the city recycling revenue for carbon reduction aims. The report demonstrates the clear commercial viability of the TreeStation using any of the scenarios. Indicative capital costs involved in establishing a TreeStation have been estimated at 334,688 with operating costs of around 313,880. The Nottingham Tree station would be capable of producing in excess of 12,000 tonnes per annum of useable woodchip fuel with a considerable demand for its output. Depending on the ownership model selected waste wood residues could go from trees to radiators all under the ownership of the city council. Nottingham TreeStation Report-January 2009 Page 17

18 7 Recommendations and Next Steps In order to increase the potential of the TreeStation, it is recommended that a study is commissioned to survey all of the woodlands in Nottingham/Nottinghamshire as preferred, producing GIS mapping of the areas, quantifying potential sustainable yield classes, identifying existing/competing users and producing an overarching management framework for all the woodlands together as well as individual management plans for each site. The options of remote CHP/Biomass gasification plants for the District heating scheme are evaluated in more detail and consider alongside the potential for satellite heating stations when this is prepared. Decide whether the idea of a TreeStation fits in with the City Councils long term objectives and if so scenario selection Nottingham City Council (and NEP) will need to review the scenarios presented within this report and select the option that best satisfies their requirements the option will then need to be cleared with the council s finance team to accurately cost the scheme and obtain budgetary approval the Colwick site the council needs to decide whether or not this site is the preferred location for a TreeStation. This will involve discussions with the council s development control team, engagement with both the race course and the Colwick Hall Hotel and carrying out any environmental impact studies required and planning applications will need to be submitted to the council s planning department In order to then proceed with the development of the TreeStation, it is recommended that a tender is issued for the delivery of the preferred scenario (or left open for alternative proposals) and a revised economic model and business case prepared with the operating partners The partners involved in this research would be pleased to assist with any of the above areas should it be decided to take them further. Nottingham TreeStation Report-January 2009 Page 18

19 Appendix 1 References 1 Review of Wood Waste Arisings and Management in the UK 2005 The Waste and Resources Action Programme (WRAP) ISBN Waste Strategy for England 2007, 3 UK Biomass Strategy ( May 2007), 4 Energy White Paper ( May 2007), 5 Waste Wood as a Biomass Fuel ( April 2008), 6 Regional Biomass Active mapping project ( Sept 08) Natural England 7 Measured and estimated methane and carbon dioxide emissions from sawdust waste PIER P. A. (1) ; KELLY J. M. (1) ; Bio-resource technology 1997 ISSN Nottingham TreeStation Report-January 2009 Page 19

20 Appendix 2 Partners conducting the research Leading the programme was ReNU Ltd Renewable Nottinghamshire Utilities (ReNU) Limited is a not for profit social enterprise trading company established in ReNU was formed out of the Nottinghamshire Wood Heat Project focussing mainly on wood heat from Biomass with its main objectives being: Promote and stimulate the renewable energy economy within Nottinghamshire with particular reference to wood heat. To establish the wood heat supply chains within Nottinghamshire and The East Midlands. To develop a physical, stable and secure supply infrastructure to fully deliver wood heat projects throughout the region. To stimulate the marketplace for economical renewable energy. On the supply side ReNU helped develop the wood-fuel supply chains within Nott s including establishing a local pelletising facility and chipped wood resource within the county. On the demand side ReNU has managed two strategic boiler installations and been instrumental in assisting many more within the region. The project brief encompasses areas of overlapping expertise so with ReNU Ltd three experienced and professional partners were selected to conduct this work with ReNU as follows. BioRegional Consulting Ltd (BCL) BioRegional Development Group (BioRegional) is an entrepreneurial, independent environmental charity. BioRegional Consulting Ltd (BCL) is the consultancy arm of the organisation. BioRegional s role as sustainability catalyst has led to the implementation of ground-breaking and award-winning work in sustainable forestry and woodfuel production, eco-building and master-planning, sustainable farming and recycling. They are perhaps best known in the forestry and woodfuel community for establishing London s first TreeStation in Croydon and consequently working to build a network of London TreeStations, and producing and selling local charcoal through BioRegional Charcoal Company (BRCC). BioRegional Consulting Ltd has considerable knowledge of developing woodfuel supply chains and fully understands the prerequisites for the establishment of a successful tree station. This knowledge is strengthened by their experience of setting up the Croydon TreeStation. They have the skills and capacity to undertake waste wood resource assessments, liaison with local authorities as suppliers, clients and tree station hosts, business case development, site selection, management planning, identification of end users and development of client base. Bruce Boucher Consultants (BBC) The Bruce Boucher Consultancy & BBC Energy is a Renewable Engineering Consultancy independent of all Biomass Boiler manufacturers and associated products, therefore able to steer clients through the potential minefield of Biomass Heating Engineering issues and solutions. They are a small but very experienced team of three in the feasibility, design, tender and management of Biomass engineering projects. Nottingham TreeStation Report-January 2009 Page 20

21 Nick Lipman BBC have completed & commissioned in 2008 an Energy Centre at Bluestone in Wales, the largest private leisure complex in Wales. First phase completed at a construction investment of circa 50 million, of which 1+ million spent in the construction of, and fit out of the Heating Plant (Biomass circa 2MWth). BBC has over five years of solid and continuous experience in District Heating; two projects have been running for over two years. We have a number of other DH schemes in varying stages of either design and or construction. We also have an enviable array of one off projects from circa kW installations operating on wood chip and pellets. We have in the past completed work for ReNU Ltd and are approved by many local authorities, MOD, & Private sector clients. BBC work closely with our clients in the fuel supply chain, to ensure that the fuel will be and is compatible for the purpose intended, furthermore that the fuel is economically and environmentally viable & sustainable. They offer Pre-Feasibility and Full Feasibility studies; again we differ very much from our contemporaries. Our studies although very thorough in detail, concentrate on practicalities as well as viability. Nick Lipman has spent the last 25 years working in sustainable development. Most recently working as a training and resources consultant. Recent work as part of the Nottingham based NECTA social enterprise team has been to promote social inclusion for those underrepresented in the community through the creation of landscape training programs. This has included working closely with various City Council Departments to develop a program of development works for the City s parks. In this role, work has included developing close local and regional links within Local Authority, Community, Social Enterprise, Land-Based, Nottingham City Council Departments; (including Parks, Trees, Neighbourhood Services and Drainage), the construction industry and landscaping sector. Nick Lipman, having been responsible for producing a percentage of the green waste/resource, understands the scope and issues involved in the production and management of this resource. Also, having such close links with potential suppliers he has developed a broad perspective from which to understand the potential for waste streams as a sustainable resource. His established links with land-based Community organisations will also be useful in consideration of smaller scale use of woodfuels. Nottingham TreeStation Report-January 2009 Page 21

22 Appendix 3 Acknowledgements emda (east midlands development agency) for funding the project Greater Nottingham Partnership for funding the project Nottingham Energy Partnership for commissioning the project Eddie Curry James Diamond Simon Hunter Martin Harris Chris Bailey Antony Greener Richard Wood John Sadler Head of City Council Parks and Open Spaces City Council Parks and Open Spaces Development Manager City Council Parks Developments Officer City Council Parks Developments Officer Head of Streetscene Waste Strategy and Development Manager Principal Project Officer, Planning Head of Estates Natural England for their work on Biomass supply and demand potential East Midlands Bio Energy Group for current information on Biomass supply and demand Forestry Commission for current information on Biomass supply and demand, and treatment of Arborial arisings Wastecycle for a private industry perspective on trends John Dorkes of Enviroenergy for historical information Babcock & Wilcox Limited - Coal Boiler Information BTH Boilers - information on the defunct International Combustion Stoker Company British Waterways - Canal Data Waterscape - Canal Data Nottinghamshire County Council - Conservation Area Nottingham City Council - Development Plans WasteNotts (Reclamation) Limited - Eastcroft Incinerator The British Geological Survey, (B.G.S) - GeoRecords. ProMap Ordnance Survey - Location Data Jim Shead - Canal History & Barge sizing data World Coal Institute - Historic Fuel Data Atomic Energy Authority - AEA Report into Biomass for London Nottingham TreeStation Report-January 2009 Page 22

23 Strand 1 Understanding the Biomass Resource Available A report for By Mr Nick Lipman. January 2009

24 Nottingham TreeStation Report Strand 1 The local authority should turn the waste into a sustainable product..wouldn t even mind paying if disposal was quick and easy -Quotes from local tree surgeons- Understanding the biomass resource January 2009 Page 2

25 Nottingham TreeStation Report Strand 1 Executive Summary Woodfuel offers a low carbon replacement to fossil fuels when used for heat and power generation. Challenging carbon reduction targets mean that nationally and regionally this is increasing demand for wood to be used as biomass fuel. Waste wood is now being looked at as a potentially valuable resource, rather than being earmarked for landfill. The objective of the work was to understand the amount of waste wood generated in the City of Nottingham that could become useful feedstock for a potential TreeStation (wood processing site) and turned into useful biomass fuel. This informing the business case for a TreeStation developed in Strand 3 of the overall research programme. This research was carried out by developing a list of potential sources of waste wood within the city, sifting them for those that could produce clean wood suitable for processing by a Nottingham TreeStation and surveying potential sources to quantify the potential resource available. The best sources identified were tree surgeons, landscape gardeners and City Council owned operations. These were questioned in detail in a comprehensive telephone survey with a satisfactory 65% of potential sources being interviewed. Analysis of the completed questionnaires showed a potential 19,000 tonnes/annum of waste wood was being disposed of at an annual disposal cost of approximately 345,000. Approximately 15,811 tonnes of this was considered suitable for making woodfuel in a TreeStation. This figure was considered to be prudent for use in the business planning exercise because further sources of wood waste have been identified from both private and City Council owned sources that could significantly increase the quantity of feedstock if exploited. From the private sector, tree surgeons within a 25Km radius, the construction sector and the wood processing industries will all be attracted to a working TreeStation with suitable segregation and sorting techniques for the waste. From the public sector; the City Council has within its ownership considerable amounts of woodland which could provide feedstock with modern woodland management techniques the City Council could stipulate how waste wood is disposed of in the awarding of new contracts to external contractors. development of Open Spaces and the parks achieving green flag standard will produce increased waste streams; the city council has significant potential for developing Short Rotation Coppicing, and also Medium Rotation Coppicing to produce energy crops within areas under the Councils control. Part of the work was to inform the business case for a TreeStation about where in the city the wood residues were originating, so any potential site selected would be close to the sources. Understanding the biomass resource January 2009 Page 3

26 Nottingham TreeStation Report Strand 1 The larger sources were therefore mapped and their distribution analysed. This proved inconclusive as the sources are fairly randomly distributed within the city and therefore no particular site could be favoured for its proximity to the supply. Contents This research has been conducted by Mr Nick Lipman working in conjunction with ReNU Ltd, and is presented in the following format. Page Section 1 Introduction 3 Section 2 Background 3 Section 3 Research Methodology 4 Section 4 Results 6 Section5 Discussion of Results 10 Section 6 Conclusions 12 Appendix 1 Telephone Questionnaire 14 Appendix 2 Map of distribution of wood waste resource 15 Appendix 3 References 16 Appendix 4 Acknowledgements 17 1 Introduction This work has been undertaken as part of a research project commissioned by NEP for a full and detailed feasibility study into the availability, type and economic viability of the clean biomass resource for operating a TreeStation within the city of Nottingham. This will include a business case for local processing and analysis of potential local end use; with particular reference to a large biomass boiler at the London Road Heat Station. To satisfy the brief, the research has been divided into three strands 1/. Understanding the biomass research available 2/. Examining the London Rd facility 3/. Planning the TreeStation This report documents the work to develop Strand 1; an understanding of the potential woodfuel resource available for operating a TreeStation within the city from the standpoint of volume, quality and economics. 2 Background Wood is one of the oldest fuel sources known to human kind, and its use is undergoing something of a renaissance. Driven by an increasing awareness of the need to reduce our reliance on fossil fuels in favour of renewable alternatives, and thereby an important element in tackling climate change. Regionally a lot of work has been done in recent years stimulating both the supply of and demand for woodfuel with more than 50 biomass installations and 15MW (thermal) of heat generation from woodfuels replacing fossil fuel. Understanding the biomass resource January 2009 Page 4

27 Nottingham TreeStation Report Strand 1 On a national scale though, the real benefits of woodfuel are becoming increasingly important. The recycling and energy markets for clean, virgin wood have been growing in recent years but waste wood has been a largely overlooked resource. This is in part due to it often arising as part of a mixed waste stream, with limited availability of facilities for its segregation, and also a result of its predominantly contaminated nature, which often makes recycling impractical. With around 10 million tonnes of waste wood being produced in the UK each year, most of which goes to landfill, this is a great missed opportunity. The significant carbon and energy benefits of recovering energy from waste wood have been highlighted in a number of recent publications, including the Waste Strategy for England , in which waste wood was identified as one of a number of priority materials for action, the UK biomass Strategy 2 and the Energy White Paper 3. Biomass energy generation will therefore have an important role to play in meeting the UK share of the 20% European Union (EU) renewable energy target 4. It has been estimated that recovering energy from 2 million tonnes of waste wood could generate 2600GWh electricity and save 1.15 million tonnes of carbon dioxide equivalent emissions, with greater benefits available by recovering heat as well as power 5. The Nottingham TreeStation Project represents a very important part of this national and regional programme by examining the feasibility of collection and processing of waste wood at a central point to provide useful fuel and undertaking an analysis of the energy potential, processing options and possible end use of waste woody biomass arising from the city of Nottingham. The project could contribute significantly to meeting the challenge of climate change and meeting the statutory targets set by central government, reducing carbon dioxide emissions along with providing sustainable local energy sources to protect the energy security of the city of Nottingham in the background of rising energy costs and the global fossil fuel depletion. Wood waste in the city represents a significant untapped and largely un-quantified low carbon biomass energy resource and there are a number of ways this resource could be processed and used. The scope of the study is therefore to determine one method of bringing this essential resource to market. 3 Research Methodology 3.1 Sources of waste Wood Waste wood arises from many sources and this represents a huge problem when trying to assess the levels of waste wood available to a potential TreeStation in Nottingham. So the first task was to decide what type of arisings would be considered as part of the study, and focus on those that would be of use to the TreeStation. Principally waste wood arises from the following sources: Waste disposal sites and waste management companies Urban Tree works Parks/estates management Arboriculture Highways management Landscape gardeners Woodland Management Construction Companies Understanding the biomass resource January 2009 Page 5

28 Nottingham TreeStation Report Strand 1 Contractors Wood processing Industries The fundamental basis of a TreeStation is to gain income from gate fees when taking waste wood into the TreeStation (rather than it being diverted into landfill) and then convert it to useful fuel which can in turn be sold to gain income, to create a sustainable enterprise. Obviously some wood waste already has an existing market such as logs for fuel, the particle Board market, and recycling outlets. Therefore the only wood waste that would be available would be where the current markets were not providing sufficient return to those generating the waste. Also a TreeStation can only take wood of sufficient quality to be turned into fuel. Meaning essentially the wood must be virgin as contaminants such a lacquer, varnish, paint, metal etc., are strictly not allowed in wood chipped to be used as fuel. One of the partners in the project Bio Regional Consultants Ltd have been effectively running a TreeStation at Croydon for several years now and learning from their experience the focus of the study was therefore on tree surgeons and foresters, who have demonstrably provided suitable waste wood in the existing TreeStation facility. During the research though it became clear that the main end destination of much waste wood in the city from waste disposal sites, construction companies and contractors was the highly successful company Wastecycle Ltd who were effectively recycling up to 16,000 tonnes per year of waste wood already. This information meant the true focus of the study should be refined to include the following sources of wood waste City Council Tree Surgeons Landscapers 3.2 Understanding the Potential waste wood supply Having decided to focus the research on the most likely sources of waste wood that would be useful to the TreeStation, a desktop review was conducted amongst trade directories, professional organisations and known local contacts to produce a list of potential suppliers to the TreeStation Obviously a comprehensive list produced over 100 potential suppliers. Thus the best method of contacting them was in the form a telephone questionnaire developed by the partners in the research to answer the following questions and thereby inform the subsequent strands of the project. Business name and contact details How much waste wood do you produce by quarter to reflect seasonality? How much of the waste is as off cuts/solid pieces, How much of the waste is as sawdust/shavings/chipped and shredded, How much is contaminated How is the waste disposed of or used (by percentages) Understanding the biomass resource January 2009 Page 6

29 Nottingham TreeStation Report Strand 1 How much is paid for waste disposal How far do you travel to dispose of the waste? Recognising the people responding to the survey were largely private companies and busy people concerned with commercial confidentiality. Initial reluctance to participate was overcome with considerable reassurance given at the beginning of the call as to the objectives of the project and to the fact that identifiable individual figures would not be published but summaries only. We have therefore respected this in the body of the report. The final questionnaire is given in appendix 1 Obviously the first contact was with Street Scene 9 set up in 2004 by Nottingham City Council to provide a more local and coordinated approach to improving the environment. They offer the following service Provide a wide range of services to maintain and improve the environment. Clean the streets and open spaces, remove graffiti, fly tips, fly posting and abandoned cars. Cut grass and hedges inspect and maintain trees, parks, playgrounds and cemeteries As such they are probably the largest single source of useable wood waste within the city and so were individually interviewed. 4. Results Telephone questionnaires and visits At the end of the work 68 organisations had responded to the questionnaire representing approximately 65% of the potential available. This constituted an unusually high return rate for a telephone questionnaire and thus reflected the interest in the work from potential suppliers. Broadly speaking the respondents were supportive of the idea and eager to find another source for their wood waste. Two respondents were willing to be quoted, echoing several other comments from contractors questioned; The local authority should turn the waste into a sustainable product..wouldn t even mind paying if disposal was quick and easy Understanding the biomass resource January 2009 Page 7

30 Nottingham TreeStation Report Strand 1 The responses to the questionnaire were noted and analysed in tabular form below. Table 1 Business Sector Size % interviewed Amount Extrapolation Approx total available residues m3 t m3 t t Council works ,172 5,172 5,172 5,172 Tree Works small medium large 50 3,235 1,230 6,470 2,460 4,451 5,440 Building Supplies small medium large Building Contractors small 0 medium , large Timber Supplies small medium 0 large Joiners small medium large Landscapers small 0 medium 0 large 20 2, ,250 1,500 5,269 5,269 Fencing small medium ,000 1,231 large ,465 Pallets small medium large Roofing small medium large PS - schools small , medium 0 large Total 19,329 Key Amount; in M3 (cubic meters) and t (tonnes) show the total amounts of clean timber presently incurring cost in its disposal. Small, Medium and Large; The distinction is based on the amount of waste produced over a year regardless of existing disposal arrangements and not on the size of the company: Small: 24 m3 or 7.5 t Medium: 120 m3 or 40 t Large: 120 m3 or 40 t Understanding the biomass resource January 2009 Page 8

31 Nottingham TreeStation Report Strand 1 Where large enterprises produce substantially more than the 120 m3 or 40 t per annum, they are represented by 3 large green circles on the map. Notes on the different sectors City Council produced waste is a total for that produced internally by all departments including Tree Services and Streetscene. The total does not include waste produced by sub-contractors on the City Councils behalf although this is often picked up in the figures elsewhere, e.g. Landscapers and Tree Works. Large builders are now required to have recycling processes in place. Whilst these processes could be greatly improved, present contracts tend to be with operations like WasteCycle who process all the waste streams. Therefore, there would have to be a substantial incentive to separate a waste stream and redirect it to an alternative processing station. The appeal of Best Practice may draw some contractors, but their potential is ignored for the purposes of this work. Small builders individually produce small amounts of clean timber waste and there is no doubt that collectively this would amount to a significant tonnage. However, it is usually produced alongside other waste streams and collectively dumped in a general builders skip. The cost of separating out, either for the builder or the skip processor, would be high. It is also likely that use of a wood processing station would take one or more years to filter into the operations of a significant number of builders. It was suggested that a gate fee would not be reflected in the void created by the redirected wood, in the skip or the extra transportation required. (Skip hire firms could provide skip separators, or collect clean timber separately). Because the circumstances are similar for each builder, within the parameters of this survey, and through an understanding of the sector, it has not been felt necessary to question a statistically significant number of small builders. Therefore their potential has been ignored for the purposes of this work Large landscapers, particularly grounds maintenance, where work is carried out on a regional basis, for example, for the housing associations and hospitals, regional landscaping contractors are usually employed and the work teams return to their base with their arisings for processing or use unspecified commercial disposal sites. (There is the potential for securing processing contracts here through the operator s regional offices) Small landscapers, including grounds maintenance, often have idiosyncratic methods of disposal such as burning, allotments, friends and stables, suiting their production of differing volumes and types of waste wood. The exceptions to this are the production of hedge type trimmings which make poor quality wood chip for fuel and grass cuttings over 8 months of the year. (These could potentially be useful if a composting process was established alongside a processing station). Potentially a processing station would be generally used if it involved a minor detour from their existing transportation routes and at times when their output exceeds their existing method of processing. Again, because the circumstances are somewhat similar for each landscaper or grounds maintenance operation, (in that they generally have a flexible solution already established). The remainder of their output shares similar difficulties with the small builders (see above). Therefore, within the parameters of this survey, and through an understanding of the sector, it has not been necessary to question further landscapers. Understanding the biomass resource January 2009 Page 9

32 Nottingham TreeStation Report Strand 1 Joiners, including carpenters and timber based manufacturers, produce a large variety of wood waste. It appears that much of the waste is perhaps only a little dirty and would require little processing at the point of production. However, the factory based operations are increasingly seeing their waste as a resource, with several looking to either install new or extend existing, small scale, heating systems and supplying the particle board industry. Roofing contractors can produce large amounts of mixed waste (see small builders). Waste wood can make up a significant percentage of this waste but is usually physically and chemically dirty, therefore their potential has been ignored for the purposes of this work Pallet traders and manufacturers. It is possible that with little processing at the production stage of the waste, more of the mixed and dirty waste could become clean. There also seems to be some uncertainty as to whether or not some pallets are treated chemically and verification of this is difficult at the point of disposal. Therefore their potential has been ignored for the purposes of this work Fencing. Operators produce significant waste wood. However, again, it is often difficult to determine whether the wood is clean or dirty at the point of disposal. Therefore their potential has been ignored for the purposes of this work Note also Land and timber based operations, in particular, tend to be based outside the City - although they carry out a large proportion of contracts within the City. Therefore, to arrive at an accurate estimation of the waste wood produced in the City it has been necessary to question operators from outside the city. The extent of this has been limited to an approximate 15 mile radius and has not included any regionally based operators. Not included are any values for waste wood generated outside of, but close to, the City, which could feed in to a convenient processing station. The size and percentages of the sector markets interviewed were estimated using the Yellow Pages and the Thompsons Directory, an understanding of various sector markets and the feed-back from the interviews. 2 totals each for clean and dirty wood were examined in the research. Figures for dirty waste are not suitable as feedstock for a TreeStation therefore they are not included for this work. Cubic meters of waste are converted to tonnes using the dividing factor of 3.25 a formula developed by Bio-regional consultants and widely accepted within the industry Understanding the biomass resource January 2009 Page 10

33 Nottingham TreeStation Report Strand 1 5 Discussion of Results 5.1. Analysis of Waste wood potential available The number of respondents has been calculated as a percentage of the number of total operators (determined through the Yellow Pages, Thompsons Directory, Trade journals such as Horticulture Weekly, and a familiarity with the respective sectors) and then proportionately multiplied. Thus it is estimated that; 1/. 19,028 tonnes of suitable clean wood are available for the TreeStation 2/. Suppliers of wood waste currently spend an estimated 345,000 on disposal costs The experience of the Croydon TreeStation confirms that waste wood generated by Tree surgeons, landscapers and council operators will be the most likely suppliers and therefore taking out the other potential sources mean the likely clean wood residues identified in Nottingham are Source Tonnes available per annum Tree works ( tree surgeons) 5,440 Landscapers 5,269 Council 5,172 Total 15,881 This is the figure that is used in the evaluation of the business case for the TreeStation detailed in strand 3. The figure of 15,881 tonnes of clean wood waste has been carefully arrived at. However it is important to understand that arriving at this figure has involved some estimation of potential wood waste with some room for error. However the research has uncovered significant other potential resources to suggest it is a realistic view of the resource available, and as such will give a conservative approach to any investment decisions made. To support this view other potential sources include From the private sector The research is focussed on the city itself and it is felt that if a successful TreeStation was established at the gate fee of 7/tonne. This would represent a considerable saving to potential suppliers compared to landfill tax which is estimated by contractors at 32/tonne, plus a disposal charge of 25 per tonne, no doubt attract high quality arisings from outside the city boundaries. For example Within a 25 Km radius there are approximately 140 Tree surgeons compared to 60 in the city. If a successful TreeStation was developed and only attracted 20% of those outside the City then this would represent a considerable additional tonnage. The construction sector is a huge source of waste wood but to use as a supplier to a TreeStation would require considerable screening for contaminated feedstock and possibly waste handling licences. When established this would represent a key area for growth and investment as a new potential source of waste wood Understanding the biomass resource January 2009 Page 11

34 Nottingham TreeStation Report Strand 1 Wood processing industries have often got well established disposal methods and their waste already represents a considerable source of income, from for example the particle board industry. As the cost of woodfuel rises it may become possible for a TreeStation to pay for good quality virgin waste wood and thereby attract local waste. From the City council Within the city and beyond (for example Newstead Abbey) the City Council have within its ownership considerable amounts of woodland estimated at 155 hectares Where the City Council can stipulate how arisings are to be disposed of in the awarding of new contracts to external contractors. Future development of Open Spaces will produce increased waste streams; The parks have recently undergone a review and the intention is to raise the profile and quality of many of the parks up to Green Flag standard. This would produce an increased output of waste wood. The city council have significant potential for developing Short Rotation Coppicing, and also Medium Rotation Coppice, (which has greater amenity and conservation values), within areas under the Councils control. 5.2 Location of waste wood supplies and the TreeStation site The position, within the area, of the potential waste wood suppliers has been mapped and this is shown in Appendix2. Where large enterprises produce substantially more than the 120 m 3 or 40 t per annum, they are represented by large green circles on the map. The distribution of potential wood resource around the city is fairly random and therefore the site of the TreeStation could be positioned virtually anywhere within the control of the city council and still be available to the resource available. An objective of the work was to identify potential sites for a TreeStation and three such sites were identified. Colwick Park The Nottingham City Council owns the Colwick Park depot site and would be considered the most likely site available. It is currently being used as a storage depot for wood waste and would be suitable for use subject to planning permission being obtained and the following reservations The depot is close to the Colwick Park lakes and care must be taken to avoid run off into the water. The operation of the site could potentially create both visual and noise problems which might raise concerns from the local hotel and racecourse. Bulwell Hall The Nottingham City Council owns the Bulwell Hall Country Park and the area is currently used as a storage area for council owned vehicles and would be suitable for use subject to planning permission being obtained and the following reservations Understanding the biomass resource January 2009 Page 12

35 Nottingham TreeStation Report Strand 1 The site has good access by road but requires access through the park and an increase in the volume of lorries could conflict with the amenity value of the Park. Wastecycle facility (Colwick) This sited is owned by the private company Wastecycle Ltd and consists of 5 acres of land adjacent to their wood recycling site. Whilst this represents a good site in terms of access, space and few potential planning problems, it is not under the control of the city council and was therefore ruled out of the investigation or direct negotiations with Wastecycle Ltd. 6. Conclusions The figure of tonnes of clean wood waste is a reliable estimate of the resource available suitable to be processed in a Nottingham TreeStation. This is considered conservative with significant opportunity for growth. The potential sources of fuel are fairly randomly distributed around the city and beyond so do not usefully inform the decision concerning the potential site of the TreeStation. Three potential sites were investigated during the work Understanding the biomass resource January 2009 Page 13

36 Nottingham TreeStation Report Strand 1 Appendix 1 Waste Wood Telephone questionnaire 1. Name of Business: Contact details: Contractor ID if applicable: 2. How much waste wood do you produce in a 3 month period? January - March April - June July September October December Are these figures actual or estimated? Tonnes Cubic meters 3. For construction, joinery, landscaping and related trades % as off cuts and solid pieces Estimated % s for whole year: Softwood Hardwood Painted / varnished / treated CCA /creosote treated MDMF Chipboard and other wood panels with and without melamine finishes % as sawdust and shavings % containing imbedded materials. E.g. nails 4. For grounds maintenance, forestry and related operations % Solid sections Estimated % s for whole year: Hardwood Softwood Green Arisings Unsorted/mixed % Less than 150mm dia. % Chipped / shredded Understanding the biomass resource January 2009 Page 14 % Contaminated with rubbish / debris / other

37 Nottingham TreeStation Report Strand 1 HWood/SW/GA 5. Do you or others make use of any of this waste? Uses. If possible please give % for each use % for whole year: 6. Do you pay for waste disposal? % Yes % No 7. Do you travel to dispose of waste? % Yes Average distance: % No Do you use a skip or bin what size? How often is it collected? 8. How much did disposal cost last year? Cubic meters / tonnes 9. Any further comments? Are you happy with your present waste wood disposal arrangements? What would you like to see change? Thank you for your cooperation. Nick Lipman Understanding the biomass resource January 2009 Page 15

38 Nottingham TreeStation Report Strand 1 Appendix 2 Map of location of waste wood resource Courtesy of Nick Lipman Understanding the biomass resource January 2009 Page 16

39 Nottingham TreeStation Report Strand 1 Appendix 3 References 1 Review of Wood Waste Arisings and Management in the UK 2005 The Waste and Resources Action Programme (WRAP) ISBN Waste Strategy for England 2007, 3 UK Biomass Strategy ( May 2007), 4 Energy White Paper ( May 2007), 5 Waste Wood as a Biomass Fuel ( April 2008), Understanding the biomass resource January 2009 Page 17

40 Nottingham TreeStation Report Strand 1 Appendix 4 Acknowledgements The contribution of the following individuals is gratefully acknowledged Eddie Curry James Diamond Simon Hunter Martin Harris Chris Bailey Antony Greener Richard Wood John Sadler Head of City Council Parks and Open Spaces City Council Parks and Open Spaces Development Manager City Council Parks Developments Officer City Council Parks Developments Officer Head of Streetscene Waste Strategy and Development Manager Principal Project Officer, Planning City Council Head of Estates Understanding the biomass resource January 2009 Page 18

41 Strand 2 Report into Installed Plant at the London Road Heat Station DPS - BBC 2008

42 About this Report This Report has been compiled by the Bruce Boucher Consultancy. It should be read in conjunction with any attached Drawing Package, Ministry of Defence 036 Specification, the BBC General HVAC Engineering Specification or any Specification pertaining to the Project in hand.

43 Copyright Statement All rights reserved. No parts of this work may be reproduced in any form or by any means - graphic, electronic, or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, taping, or information storage and retrieval systems - without the written permission of the publisher. Products that are referred to in this document may be either trademarks and/or registered trademarks of the respective owners. The publisher and the author make no claim to these trademarks. While every precaution has been taken in the preparation of this document, the publisher and the author assume no responsibility for errors or omissions, or for damages resulting from the use of information contained in this document or from the use of programs and source code that may accompany it. In no event shall the publisher and the author be liable for any loss of profit or any other commercial damage caused or alleged to have been caused directly or indirectly by this document. Printed: October 2008 Publisher...BBC Energy... Managing Editor...Bruce Boucher... Special thanks to: All the people who contributed to this document, to the Suppliers & Manufacturers who provided detailed content, the Technical Engineers, CIBSE, IoR, ASHRAE & BIFM. The Project Supervisors, Managers & retained Consultants. Technical Editor...Paul Sartin... Cover Design...DPS...

44 4 Inspection Report Table of Contents Foreword Part I Introduction 1 1 Existing... Equipment Existing... Plant Specification Removed... Plant... 8 Part II Biomass as a source of Fuel 11 1 Coal... to Biomass Conversion New... Biomass Boiler Plant Wood Fuel... Data Emissions Satellite... Biomass Boilers Part III ReNu - BBC Biomass Resources 20 Part IV Executive Summary 21 Part V Acknowledgments 22 1 Bibliography Index Bruce Boucher Consultancy

45 Foreword This Report has been compiled from information generated from a Pre or Full Feasibility Study or an In-depth Inspection, carried out by the Bruce Boucher Consultancy at the request of the Architect, Developer, End User or Project Client. Additional copies are available from:- The Bruce Boucher Consultancy The Attic 28, Manor Close Weston, Stafford ST18 0JP Telephone Bruce Boucher Consultancy

46 1 Inspection Report 1 Introduction The London Road Heat Station is sited adjacent to the London Road Bridge over the Nottingham Beeston canal. Three, 25 Megawatt Boilers were originally installed to provide hot water for the Nottingham District Heating Scheme. The Boilers were coal fired and in the late 1990's, two of the Boilers were converted to Gas firing. The Primary Fuel into the London Road Heat Station is raw steam from the Eastcroft Incinerator site, whilst Gas is only used to supplement the energy required for Generation or during times when the Eastcroft Site is undergoing maintenance. The Eastcroft Incinerator in Nottingham burns around 150,000 tonnes of household and commercial waste every year and the heat recovered is used to produce steam which drives turbo-alternators at the London Road Heat Station. The electricity produced is fed into the National Grid and the water heated by steam is pumped through miles of insulated pipes to two large shopping centres, major public buildings, industrial premises and council house estates. It is the only city-wide combined heat and power scheme in the UK. A Private Wire circuit is also installed. The two Gas Fired Boilers at the London Road Site are required to recover any shortfall in output from Eastcroft within 15 minutes & are fired on a regular basis to ensure that they are up to pressure & temperature. The remaining unconverted Boiler is still capable of being fired with Coal,(with qualification), but since modifications have been carried out on site, many of the vital ancillaries have been disconnected & removed. These include the Coal Bunker Filling equipment, the Automatic Ash Removal system & collection machinery. The site is licensed under current regulations for the Gas Fired system, but not for the burning of any solid fuel. The purpose of this document is to look at the possibility of converting the Coal Boiler to operate on Woodchip, provided by the proposed Nottingham Tree Station Bruce Boucher Consultancy

47 Introduction 2 Location The London Road Heat Station is sited just out of the Station Conservation Area. However, the "Station Conservation Area Character Appraisal & Management Plan", as issued in draft format for Public Consultation in 2007, proposes that the traffic be reduced, where possible, to preserve the area. The document can be downloaded from the Nottinghamshire County Council website. www. nottinghamshire.gov.uk 2008 Bruce Boucher Consultancy

48 3 Inspection Report 1.1 Existing Equipment The remaining Coal Fired Boiler was manufactured by Babcock & Wilcox & is a C.T.M type. It is steel cased & brick lined with natural circulation. There are 16 sections in width, with 6 metre long main Boiler Tubes. Expansion within the Boiler is downwards from the Steam Drum level. The Furnace is cooled by water, with tubes in the furnace side, covered with cast iron Bailey Blocks which are refractory faced where necessary. The tubes form two of the furnace walls.the front wall is of refractory material & is of 'Bigelow' construction, whilst the rear wall is fitted with bare tubes that are connected to the Boiler uptake headers. The Superheaters are of the Babcock & Wilcox longitudinal type & are arranged below the Boiler return tubes. Each Superheater comprises 24 groups of 1.5" tubes with a mean effective length of 12 metres. There are 6 tubes per group & each Superheater has two steam passes. Saturated steam is transported from the Steam Drum into the Superheater via 100mm tubes Bruce Boucher Consultancy

49 Introduction The Economiser is a Senior 'H' type & has tubular heating surfaces in two tiers. The tiers are connected in series on the water side. The Economiser contains 108 tubes, each of which is 3.5 metes long, six tubes wide & 16 tubes high Bruce Boucher Consultancy 4

50 5 Inspection Report The Fuel Stoker is a single Class 'L' type and is designed with a single speed fixed driving gear. The standard design Fuel is either Notts or Derby slack with a nominal calorific value of 3.2 kw/lb. The Boiler is rated around 25 MW output. Fine ash and clinker together with a ridlings are collected in custom hoppers from the front and central positions of the Stoker. The primary air enters the fine ash hoppers from whence it is distributed to the grates. The clinker hopper is provided with the Boiler and clinker is removed by a conveyor belt. underside of the old Ash Grate The dust extraction plant is of Davidson's, shunt suction type. There are two primary collectors per Boiler arranged in the flue between the Boiler and the economiser inlet. Grit is continuously discharged from the secondary collectors via automatic dust wells through the Stoker rear arch and into the Stoker Ash Hopper. A Dust Hopper is arranged inside the Boiler below the second and third gas passes. This Hopper also discharges through the Stoker rear arch into the Stoker Ash Hopper. An automatic feed regulator is provided in the connection from the main feed range; when using the auxiliary feed range hand control only is used. Steam from the Boiler drum is conveyed to the Superheat Inlet header by means of three 100 mm outlets and the standpipe, through a valley type dry-pipe in the drum, which dries the steam passing to the Superheater. Feed water enters the drum from the economiser by means of 2 feed check valves and is distributed along its length by an internal feed pipe. Safety valves on both the Boiler and the Superheater of the single spring type and 2 inch nominal bore. Water gauges are fitted directly to the heads of the saturated steam drum and are illuminated. Water level indicators are fitted together with high and low water alarms. The main steam stop valves are manually operated and are fitted with bypass valves. The Boiler has a manually operated the Soot-blower. Steam at full Boiler pressure, which has been tapped off the Superheater outlet header,is used for removing soot from the front furnace wall, the Superheater, the economiser and the Boiler side walls Bruce Boucher Consultancy

51 Introduction Existing Plant Specification Boiler Duty & Operating Conditions. Output of steam tonnes maximum continuous output. 15 tonnes, per hour normal load Design Steam Temperature 343.3ºC Steam pressure at Superheater outlet 24.8 bar Superheated steam temperature 343.3ºC Efficiency (based on C.V. of coal) 80.5% Feed water temperature at inlet to the economiser 76.6ºC Estimated temperature of water leaving economiser 148.8ºC maximum continuous. Working pressure in Drum 25.5 bar Air pressure under Stoker.1 5 bar Weight of Water in Boiler & Ancillaries 18.5 tonnes Stoker bed size 3.6 metres x 5.5 metres Design pressure of pressure parts bar Furnace Tubes vary in size from 100mm to 315 mm in diameter I.D. F.D & S.A. Fans 1200 mm down to 630 mm Maximum output of Fans I.D. = 14,631 F.D.= 9,298 S.A = Bruce Boucher Consultancy litres a second litres a second litres a second

52 7 Inspection Report Section through the remaining Boiler. With the exception of the I.D, everything below Ground Level has been removed 2008 Bruce Boucher Consultancy

53 Introduction Removed Plant When two of the three Coal Fired Boilers were converted to Gas, the third unit was mothballed and several items of plant were removed. The three 260 tonne top fuel bunkers as still in position. It would be impractical to remove these as they form part of the main Boiler-house structure. However, the fuel conveyor system is now non existent. The top side access hole has been bricked up, but is still visible from low-level, externally. The Fuel Conveyor transported Coal from an underground Storage Facility to the top Bunkers, continuously, whilst delivery vehicles entered from the London Road, dropped their 30+ tonne load onto an inset ground level Grille & then exited through the other gate. The movement of delivery traffic was continuous with one reversing manoeuvre to offload the Coal. The main building has been extended on the rear elevation & the old delivery route is now more confined with severely reduced access for larger vehicles Bruce Boucher Consultancy

54 9 Inspection Report Hot Ash from the Boilers was deposited on a continuously moving conveyor belt under the main combustion grates. The Ash collected in a counterbalanced skip & at a certain point, this was lifted skywards and the contents were deposited into a parked vehicle. Dust from the Hoppers was also removed via conveyors & into suitable lorries for disposal. The Ash & Dust conveyors, together with the skips & storage bins have been removed. The Coal Grille is still in position, but the underground storage facility is mainly full of water & is not serviceable. Bricked up Ash Conveyor exit & 'skip' sump 2008 Bruce Boucher Consultancy

55 Introduction 10 Coal Chutes from the top mounted Bunkers have been removed from the Gas Fired Boilers, but the remaining Chute is still in situ to the mothballed unit. Coal Chute from the 260 tonne Bunker above 2008 Bruce Boucher Consultancy

56 11 2 Inspection Report Biomass as a source of Fuel When in service, the Coal Fired Boiler ran on Notts or Derby Slack with a Calorific Value approaching 3.02 kw/kg. Dry prepared Woodchip, ( Dry = with a moisture content below 30%), has a Calorific Value between 2.6 & 3.6 kw/kg. The majority of Woodchip for commercial applications has a moisture content around 50%, with reduced Calorific Values of 1.9kW/kg. At 50% M.C. (moisture content), the input of Woodchip is more than doubled to achieve the output of Dry Fuel. The remaining Coal Fired Boiler is rated at 25 MW with an efficiency, (burning Coal), of 80.5% MW actual. If it were to be converted to Woodchip burning, then the efficiency would drop considerably, typically to around 48%, or around 12MW. The average delivery vehicle can carry up to lorry loads of Fuel per week. tonnes & therefore, there would be approximately 2008 Bruce Boucher Consultancy

57 Biomass as a source of Fuel Coal to Biomass Conversion Fundamentally, the Coal Fired Boiler would be difficult & very costly to convert to Biomass. Essential Fuel transport systems together with Ash removal systems have been removed & the Boiler House has been modified. Biomass Boilers require a variable speed Stoker to enable the combustion process to be automated, whereas the existing Stoker is a fixed speed unit. The existing Boiler would need to be inspected by an approved Inspector to ensure that there has been no corrosion of the both the waterways &the furnace walls.the Boiler Inspection is not part of this study. A new Bulk Storage facility would be required, in addition to a new Fuel transport system & offloading equipment, (Blowers or Bucket Lift), to enable a substantial amount of Woodchip to be stored... It would be impracticable to have hourly deliveries. The existing underground facility is not suitable for dry Fuel. A new delivery plan would need to be formulated; due to the restrictions on large lorries entering the site & exiting back onto the London Road. The adjacent Nottingham Beeston Canal may be usable, subject to permissions from the local Council, British Waterways & other authorities. The Canal is now part of the River Trent Navigation & is subject to a maximum barge size with a shallow draught. This limits the amount of fuel that can be shipped at any one time. The basin on the other side of the London Road Bridge is large enough for barges of up to 81ft long x 18.5ft wide to be manoeuvred. However, due to the restrictions on the section from the basin up to the Nottingham Marina, it is doubtful whether barges of such a size could be accommodated. There is no basin, as far as we are aware, where the barges could be reversed or manoeuvred for a return trip Bruce Boucher Consultancy

58 Inspection Report New Biomass Boiler Plant If the existing Coal Boiler were to be removed & a new Biomass Boiler installed, then various subjects would need to be addressed. 1. The safe dismantling & removal of the Boiler & its relationship to the other installed Plant, bearing in mind that the existing Gad Fired Plant must remain operational. 2. Consideration into how the old Boiler could be removed, given that there is no access for large sections to be removed, easily. 3. Site preparation to accept a totally different piece of equipment & its associated ancillaries. 4. The physical installation of the Plant within an existing building, given that there is no longer any access for large sections. As per item How the new Boiler would be integrated with the other existing Gas Fired units. Control & mechanical considerations. 6. How the output would integrate with the existing Pipework System, given the high temperatures & operating pressures of the existing system. 7. Bulk Fuel Storage & Handling. Could a minimum amount of Fuel be stored to cover any shut-down of the Eastcroft site. 8. Access for Delivery Vehicles, given that there is no longer access & manoeuvring space for large lorries. 9. Exit of large vehicles from the site, given that the second gate is not really accessible due to building alterations on the site. 10.Ash Handling & removal from site, given that the access is now limited. Refer to items 8 & 9, above. Any new Biomass Boiler would have to fit within the confines of the existing Boiler House. This is because the Site has no expansion space of any significance. As previously mentioned, there is no Bulk Storage space & due to the alterations to the buildings, it would prove difficult to deliver the required amount of Fuel on a 'round the clock' basis. There are no longer any suitable docking facilities for Canal side deliveries. New residential developments opposite the old canal side wharf 2008 Bruce Boucher Consultancy

59 Biomass as a source of Fuel 14 The maximum size of Biomass Boiler that could possibly be accommodated within the Boiler House is around 12 MW. Many new Ancillaries would be required, including:- a new Bulk Fuel Storage facility, the Fuel delivery system into the Boiler, Ash removal systems & also a new I.D. Fan, Cyclone & Emission Cleaning Plant. Emission Cleaning Plant is required to comply with regulations for this City location. The current Emissions Licence is for Natural Gas only & does not cover any form of Solid Fuel Combustion. The licence to burn Coal was relinquished many years ago when the two Boilers were converted to Gas firing. The existing Building does not lend itself to simple modification as it already houses the converted Coal to Gas Boilers. There are no requirements for Ash removal or for complicated Fuel Feed systems with the existing Fuel. Relationship to the new adjacent residential building works & the existing 'Cooling Water Intakes' Based on the numerous requirements for installing a Biomass Boiler, it would therefore be impracticable to install such a Boiler, on site Bruce Boucher Consultancy

60 Inspection Report Wood Fuel Data The majority of Biomass Boilers require fuel with a specific or maximum moisture content. This is usually 30%. Larger Biomass Boilers can, however, use wood fuel of a higher moisture content, typically up to 50%. This is due to the ferocity of he combustion cycle. In Scandinavia, most Biomass Boilers are designed to burn one or two types of wood, typically Spruce or Pine. In England, we burn a mixture of many types of wood, as well as soft & hard woods.. If a Biomass Boiler of 12 MW were to be installed, with a Moisture Content of 50%, then the quantity of Fuel required, would more than double, as can be seen from the above graph Bruce Boucher Consultancy

61 Biomass as a source of Fuel 16 Quantity of Fuel required The Rule of Thumb for Fuel to Output is 1 Tonne per Megawatt per Hour at 25% Moisture Content. At 50% M.C., the Fuel input is 2 Tonnes per Hour. The equivalent pile of Fuel is approximately, 10 metres x 10 metres x 10 metres for every 24 hours. - this equates to the size of 12 Double Decker Buses, 2long x 3wide x 2 high. Multiply this by 7 days a week & it is a veritable mountain! Wood Fuels can be stored for variable lengths of time, as shown below, with the likely causes of degradation Bruce Boucher Consultancy