Biomass boiler

To produce Wildwood fuel in the most environmentally-friendly way, we carefully considered how our kiln would be fired. Having grown our raw material sustainably it was vital to ensure that the next part of the process was equally sustainable.

We identified that the best option would be a biomass boiler to work in harmony with our kiln system. Biomass boilers are fuelled by waste wood, of which we knew we would have a plentiful supply from our logging process. Waste wood is chipped and fed automatically into the boiler via a large auger, and no additional fuel for the boiler is required. 

The carbon dioxide emitted when this wood is burned is the same amount that was absorbed over the time period that the plant was growing. As long as new plants continue to grow in place of those used for fuel, the process is sustainable. There are some carbon emissions caused by the cultivation, manufacture and transportation of the fuel, and if sourced locally, these are much lower than the emissions from fossil fuels.

With the help of Kernow Fires in Wadebridge, we sourced an Austrian KWB 300 kW Powerfire boiler. The boiler heats 8,000 litres of water which is pumped around the wood kiln for up to six days until the logs are perfectly dry. By the end of the process our logs contain less than 20% moisture so that no energy is wasted burning off excess moisture.

To allow us to expand in the future, the boiler has been designed to run a second kiln, which is planned for the future.