High-tech heating solution to cut small business energy bills


Business and industry across Wales could slash its energy bills by up to half and reduce its carbon footprint by more than 4.7 million tonnes by switching to new high-tech wood energy systems.

Spiralling fuel bills - many companies have seen a 100 per cent increase in energy costs over the last two years - have already prompted business to switch to wood fuel to cut costs and provide environmental benefits.

Rising fuel prices mean that wood energy is already cheaper than oil - 2 pence per kilowatt hour for wood compared to 4 pence per kwh for oil, means making the change could produce 50 per cent savings for Wales's 45,000 small and medium businesses. For those companies with their own waste wood the choice is even easier. Burning clean wood offcuts as fuel avoids the cost of sending it to landfill.

Now a biomass road show - run by the Wood Energy Business Scheme (WEBS) - aims to give SMEs across south Wales the chance to find out more about the benefits of switching - and the grants available to help them to do so.

Three evening business briefings are being held - in Swansea on 22 June; Cwmbran, on 29 June and Hirwaun on 6 July.

The Swansea event will be at Sketty Hall, Sketty Lane; the venue at Cwmbran is Springboard Innovation Centre, Llantarnam Park, and at Hirwaun the briefing will be held at Ty Newydd Country Hotel, Penderyn Road. Each of the two hour events starts at 5pm and includes a free supper. Details of the full programme of seminars for 2005/06 can be found on http://www.woodenergybusiness.co.uk.

And with more fossil fuel price hikes forecast many Welsh businesses are already looking at biomass as a real alternative. So far a total of about 50 major systems are already on line throughout Wales and another 20 or so are in the pipeline for this year alone.

'Wood energy makes sense financially - and looks certain to become even more attractive on cost - as well as being good for the environment and meeting Government emissions targets,' said Mike Pitcher, who heads the Aberystwyth based WEBS team, which is funded by the European Union and Welsh Assembly Government.

'And at each of our briefing sessions, experts in wood heat technology will explain the latest systems and benefits, there will be an opportunity to see how other installations and talk to current business users,' said Mike. 'Our aim is to give business across south Wales information needed to make the right choices when specifying a heating system.

'We will also be explaining how to access significant financial support with grants of up to 48% towards the cost of the installation, and potentially the initial capital cost of wood chipping and pelleting machinery,' he added.

More than 45 per cent of all carbon emissions come from heating and lighting buildings. By switching to carbon neutral energy from renewable forestry resources Welsh business can cut that dramatically.

'The level of interest is accelerating all the time - largely thanks to rising fuel bills, but also because people are looking for secure local sources of sustainable energy, ' Mike added. WEBS is managed by Forestry Commission Wales with Welsh Assembly Government and European Objective 1 and 2 funding.
Find out more at www.woodenergybusiness.co.uk or contact Mike Pitcher on 01970 821226.

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