Biomass
Biomass may include any fuel derived from organic matter, such as wood, oil crops, and agricultural & animal residues. Biomass can also be termed as biofuel, biodiesel, and biogas, and can be used for heat production, electricity generation and fuelling vehicles using a wide variety of conversion technologies. Biomass is renewable only when dedicated crops or forests are used or where replanting occurs. The carbon absorbed during growth is considered to be equal to the emissions during combustion.
Biomass chips are produced from chipping wood. The wood may include short rotation coppice, thinings from managed woodland or other forestry material. The quality of the chip will vary significantly depending on the quality of the original wood/crop etc. and drying techniques.
Wood chip replaces oil or gas as a fuel and the boiler is linked to a chip store that automatically feeds the required volume of chip into the boiler as is necessary. The ash created should be small provided the chip is of high enough quality.
Chip boilers have universal applications. The boilers tend to be larger than pellet boilers and are best suited to external siting along with the necessary store. Chip boilers currently provide heat in a wide range of situations including schools, hospitals, commercial buildings and also district heating systems.
For more information download the Wood Chip and or the Wood Pellet FACT sheets