Specifications
Fuels
What are wood fuels?
Today, wood heating is a cost competitive, highly comfortable and environmentally sustainable alternative to
fossil fuel. Rened wood fuels are available in a variety of forms including logs, briquettes, chips and pellets.
The most ecient way to use wood fuels is in a closed system.
Home produced wood fuels are independent of international energy prices and oer Irish consumers a
secure, indigenous and carbon neutral source of energy.
Why wood fuels?
High energy content, two kg of wood is approximately equivalent to one litre of oil in terms of energy
content
Grown locally supporting local economies
Fully automatic heating system options available for wood pellet and wood chip boilers
Wood fuel costs are more stable compared to fossil fuels
Wood pellets are a standardised high quality, high energy content fuel
Easy to handle, transport and store
Environmental advantages for a lowered CO
2
impact for life-cycle of systems
Wood pellets
Wood pellets are a popular renewable fuel with a growing number of Irish manufacturers and suppliers
importing pellets. Wood pellets are produced from sawdust, shavings, bark or chips by drying and pressing
with steam. During this process, a compound found in wood called lignin acts as a natural binding agent
which holds the pellet in shape, and also gives the pellets their distinctive glossy sheen. They are compact,
easy to store and are used for fully automatic heating in pellet boilers or stoves.
There is a small carbon footprint associated with the manufacture and transportation of pellets
(approximately 2% of the energy content of the fuel) but this is more than compensated for as the wood
itself is carbon neutral, and the carbon intensity of wood pellet production is negligible in comparison to the
carbon footprint of fossil fuel production (pre-burning) i.e. sourcing, drilling, rening and transportation.
Wood chips
Typically, chips are sourced from sawmill, forestry by-products or from short rotation forestry (SRF), fast
growing trees, such as willow grown for the purpose of creating wood chips. Typically, these trees grow for
seven years before they are rst thinned and harvested.
Wood chips are produced by wood chippers, which use sharp chopping blades to cut the bulk wood to the
required chip size. The size of the chips is dependent on the setting of the blades in the chipper.