FM Magazine spoke with Tom Woods, Biomass Manager at the Berkshire College of Agriculture (BAC), about his institution's recently inaugurated biomass energy centre and the selection of British Gas's Econergy subsidiary as project delivery partner.
Why did you originally choose Econergy for your systems?
Our first biomass boiler was installed by Econergy and we found it was a very good system. We really liked the fact that Econergy can do everything for us under one contract; including maintenance, monitoring, repairs and breakdown. There is also the reassurance that comes with Econergy being part of British Gas.
What are the benefits of having a biomass operation for the college?
We're a land-based college and agriculture is at the heart of everything we do. So it made perfect sense to use our own facilities to grow and harvest wood for biomass. We chose willow as it is fast-growing. We actually only have to transport the wood about 200 yards from the barns, where it is dried, to the boilers.
As well as reducing our carbon footprint, the projected fuel savings of £93,000 annually are huge.
Why did you switch to biomass?
One of our main aims was to reduce our carbon footprint alongside reducing fuel costs. Growing biomass material on site meant there were no transport costs. It also meant our students could get hands-on exposure and experience growing and harvesting the wood and doing things like taking soil samples.
Previous oil bills for the section of the college now served by the biomass boilers were a massive £112,000 annually. Switching to biomass is generating considerable savings for the college and the savings are being compounded. Now, our only real outlay is the cost of harvesting.
As well as examining our heating costs, we're looking at all the ways we can reduce our carbon footprint - from waste streams to electricity consumption.
Biomass is well suited to what we do and our ethos, and we also have all the farming equipment we need on the campus, including tractors, trailers and loaders.
Describe how your biomass journey started?
Our first Econergy boiler was installed six years ago and we had to buy in all of our fuel. The first phase was the installation of a wood boiler, complete plant room and heat network. As facilities at the college expanded, the second phase included the design and installation of a second boiler to provide heating and hot water for showers in residential accommodation at the southern end of the college campus, including a Grade I listed mansion. Since we decided to grow our own fuel there has been a lot of trial and error but our system is working well and we now have two boilers that are fed with our own cut and dried wood.
We've learned how to monitor the moisture levels so the boilers work efficiently.
What do you like about the design and installation?
We now consider environmental sustainability as part of everything we do, and have worked with Econergy to include green technologies in the energy centre housing the boilers. These include natural ventilation, rainwater harvesting, green roofing and cedar cladding. The energy centre replaced our expensive, oil-fired heating and hot water system.
Tell us about your partnership with Econergy
It is a partnership that works very well. The life-cycle replacement will mean new boilers in 25 years and I see us working with Econergy in terms of maintenance and other things they do for us throughout that time. I'm hoping we will install another boiler in the near future.
Will growing your own fuel mean you can be self-sufficient?
Our long-term target is to be 80 per cent self sufficient which will give us some ability to control costs - unlike with oil. Our willow crop is planted in a three-year rotation, and we can now harvest every year. We've received a grant from Natural England to help us plant an additional 5.5 hectares which will take us up to 18.5 hectares. We now need to increase storage capacity so we can dry the wood to the right moisture content.
