U.K. wood fuel supplier map available

In partnership with the U.K.'s Carbon Trust, the Forestry Commission’s Biomass Energy Centre has released a new and improved fuel supplier database.

The Carbon Trust’s mission in developing the map is to make it easier for those looking to take advantage of the soon-to-be-released Renewable Heating Incentive to identify local and national companies that can supply them with wood fuel. The RHI program offers long-term support to compensate for capital and operating costs, as well as to remove additional barriers and ease financial costs, for thermal technologies classed as renewable under the U.K.’s Renewable Energy Directive. Support will be distributed in the form of tariffs based on technology and size.

The new map is available for use free of charge, and includes suppliers of logs, pellets, chips and briquettes. Results may be filtered to locate a specific feedstock.

When accessing the map, a user will observe colored disks, which are used to represent a cluster of suppliers. The number of suppliers in each cluster is visible on the disc; blue represents less than 10, yellow represents 10-99 and red is for 100 and over.

As a user zooms in further, the disks are resolved until the location of each individual supplier is visible. As of Dec. 6, 374 suppliers are included on the map, and new suppliers can register to be added.

"Our old wood fuel suppliers listing was one of the most popular areas of the website but we have been struggling to keep pace with demand,” said Will Rolls of the BEC. “The new map presents information in a much clearer way and lets the fuel supplier tell potential customers more about the service they offer.”

The Biomass Energy Centre and the Carbon Trust anticipate increased demand for wood fuel once the Renewable Heat Incentive is launched later this year.

The map can be accessed at http://nbsd.carbontrust.co.uk/.