Biomass boilers cut County Council’s energy bill

Environment
And this is what a biomass boiler runs on: Green Park site manager Alan Beattie shows Cabinet Member Warren Whyte the boiler's fuel pellets Biomass boiler fuel pellets Cabinet Member Warren Whyte with site manager Alan Beattie in the biomass boiler room at Green Park activity centre

Nine new biomass boilers fitted in Buckinghamshire County Council buildings will save more than £30,000 a year on the authority’s energy bill.

They replace oil-fired boilers at six schools, the county museum’s artefact store at Halton, and Green Park activity centre at Aston Clinton.

The £1.3 million investment in the wood pellet-fired boilers, supplied by biomass energy provider Rural Energy, will generate an annual£150,000 income from the Government’s Renewable Heat Incentive and heat sales.

Over their 20-year lifespan the nine boilers will have paid for themselves three times over and reduce carbon dioxide emissions by an estimated 10,400 tonnes in that time.

Resource Strategy Manager David Sutherland said the use of wood pellets – just over 400 tonnes a year – would make a contribution to the sustainable management of woodland.

Warren Whyte, Cabinet Member for Environment and Planning, said: ‘This project takes a sensible long-term view, combining responsible energy consumption and supporting British sources of energy.

‘We’re savingon heating costs and generating an income for the county, which is good news for our residents.’

The biomass boiler project is one of a number highlighted in the County Council’scarbon management plan approvedtwo years ago,which aims tohelp manage and reducespending on energy.