The Carbon Cycle

The use of biomass as a fuel has huge potential to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. Burning fossil fuel removes carbon that is ‘locked away’ underground and transfers it to the atmosphere in the form of CO2. Essentially fossil fuels are a form of ‘ancient biomass’, and by burning them we are creating a carbon imbalance.

In a combustion system, biomass and fossil fuels release carbon dioxide into the atmosphere as they burn but biomass also needs carbon dioxide to grow. This ‘closed carbon cycle’ where the same amount of CO2 is absorbed from the atmosphere by the biomass as is released when it is burnt. The closed carbon cycle makes biomass fuel ‘carbon neutral’.

Biomass doesn’t contain many of the other noxious chemicals that are released when fossil fuels are burnt eg: sulphur, these gasses are creating immediate environmental problems such as acid rain and respiratory problems in humans.

Woodpecker boilers are an efficient way of burning wood pellet fuel for heating applications as they have been developed to have minimal ash and particulate outputs. Having achieved clean air act exemption these appliances are often not detected to be wood burning in day to day use as their flue exhaust has little indication of it. With Micro-generation Certification Scheme (MCS) and HETAS approvals these boilers are not only carbon neutral but cost neutral too (in many circumstances).