Frequently asked questions about biomass

We also offer biomass training courses and consultancy services. Read our What we do page which gives you more details about these and the other services we offer.

Rural Energy provides a full end-to-end, turn-key service for clients or projects that require it. We support our clients from initial enquiry all the way through completion and beyond with maintenance and service contracts.

Rural Energy has a vast portfolio of clients and the company has facilitated and managed the successful completion of over 1,200 biomass projects in its first 12 years; this includes sales of 440 individual biomass boilers in 2014. Our experience ranges from academic campuses to churches, poultry farms to office buildings, emergency services buildings to hotels, golf courses to industrial estates, and many more. Check out our Case Studies for more insight.

You can read more about these on our Training pages.

Rural Energy also offers a range of Industrial Biomass Boilers which would be recommended on a project-by-project basis.

For containerised biomass requirements, we have a range of plug-and-play solutions that fit virtually all site variables. All our packaged plant room products are built and fitted out off-site, minimising possible on-site disruption, and then delivered and connected up to the existing heat distribution system. They all have the option of a fuel store included in the design, which can be for either wood chips or wood pellets.

The Trade Pod is designed specifically for 199kW heating requirements, has the smallest footprint of our range and is an extremely affordable solution. You can use an existing building or silo as a fuel store, cutting out the cost of separate wood repository.

The Heat Pod is a more customisable option. Biomass boilers from 20kW up to 500kW can be installed in these Pods, for whichever wood fuel you require. Available in different sizes, configurations and extras, such as wood cladding or a colour-matching exterior, these Heat Pods are attractive and provide a solution for sites with limited building space for the renewable heating system.

The Heat Hub gives clients with a larger or more complex heating requirement a fantastic solution. Able to house a boiler up to 1.5MW and with a selection of external fuel stores available, it is the perfect choice for projects with a District Heating aspect.

We also have a range of Wood Fuel Storage options suitable for all types of biomass installation. This includes bespoke designs for external stores, cylindrical pellet silos, octagonal hoppers, manual and hydraulic lifting lids for underground stores, flexible bag silos and hook bin solutions.

We also provide existing clients with maintenance and service contracts, which you can read more about in our Servicing pages.

As a leading biomass boiler manufacturer in Europe for decades, the Herz product range is one of the most efficient, automated and safe. Tested to not just European standards but also UK and other individual country legislation requirements, Herz Binder biomass boilers meet or surpass all current UK emission requirements.

Herz’s reputation in the European biomass industry is exceptional and the company has a long history of creating modern, fit-for-purpose products. The company has a proven track record of constructing biomass boilers, fuel feed systems and associated parts to the highest standards, and boasts some of the longest-running medium-sized biomass installations throughout the continent.

Discover more about Herz's history.

There are numerous benefits to becoming a Partner and being Trained on the installation of Herz biomass boilers, which we will happily discuss with you at your convenience.

The increase in large-scale commercial biomass roll-outs and public sector frameworks requires Rural Energy to optimise the use of its workforce. This is particularly true for the engineers and project managers who deal with the installation and overseeing of extensive biomass projects that can take several months to complete.

The resulting distribution arm of our business, with approved Partner companies looking after our end-user clients, results in a larger team of stakeholders able to look after the best interests of our customers.

Call our Partner Network Team for more insight on 0203 189 0677.

Partners are selected, vetted, approved, trained and signed off only when judged thoroughly capable of installing and commissioning the Herz range of biomass boilers and dealing with customers professionally and courteously.

The standard training courses that are available from Rural Energy that Partners must complete can be found in the Training web pages.

Biomass contains energy and, when burnt in a biomass boiler, the combustion process raises the temperature of the water that flows through the heat exchangers to create hot water and heat through the distribution system.

Related to this, biogas is usually a mixture of the gasses that organic matter produces when breaking down in the absence of oxygen and is also used as an energy source.

Wood pellets are more expensive than wood chips as fossil fuels are used in the manufacturing process and so the price traces any cost changes to gas and oil, to some extent. Pellets (at 8% moisture content) typically provide 1 kilowatt hour of heat for £0.04375 (4.375p/KwH) and chip (at 35% moisture content) is around £0.034 (3.4p/kWh).

LPG is almost double the wood chip cost per kilowatt hour at 6.4pence, domestic heating oil equates to 3.9p and electricity is at a whopping 12p! The financial benefits to heating your property with renewable biomass wood fuel are clear for anyone off gas!

Compared to domestic mains gas at 4p/kWh, biomass is still quite competitive. Commercial mains gas at 3.2p/kWh is still comparable with wood chip costs if extremely dry (50%) which is only 2.4p/kWh.

* Figures supplied by Forest Fuels and correct at time of publishing (May 2015).

The average price of wood chip is around £110 per tonne (G50 W35 chip classification) and for wood pellet is £220 per tonne but can be as high as £250*.

* Figures supplied by Forest Fuels and correct at time of publishing (May 2015).

Woodland management is a rapidly growing part of the British country life and is considered to improve ecosystems greatly, as was discovered by Rural Energy staff at a tree planting event at the end of 2014.

You can read more about sustainable woodland management on the Woodland Trust’s website or click here to download their Management of our Woods document.

More information about wood fuel options can be found in the Fuel Types pages of this site but here are some thoughts to help your decision:

Although wood chip is cheaper (per tonne), wood pellets have a higher calorific value per tonne so the same volume of fuel will give more energy to the boiler when burnt. It also depends on the available storage on site as to which is a better fit for you specifically, as is the number of suppliers in your area.

Due to the calorific value and nature of pellets (they flow easily whereas gravity does not always have the same effect on chips due to their irregular shapes) smaller storage solutions can be opted for, compared to wood chip which requires a larger bunker.

If clients are intending on harvesting and chipping their own woodland to feed the biomass boiler, this is obviously not only beneficial to keeping fuel costs down, but also manages the woodland when reaped sustainably. Ensuring you have an alternative supplier is always recommended.

There are various pre-manufactured storage options available for your biomass fuel. Some options are suitable for either wood chip or wood pellets, such as octagonal hoppers, whilst others are specifically designed for pellet, such as flexible bag silos.

Take a look at our Fuel Storage options for more information.

We will be happy to discuss some calculations with you; just contact our team on 0203 189 0654.

Websites to help you include the Biomass Suppliers List and the Wood Heat Association. 

More about the current UK regulations on emissions, including the Clean Air Act, can be found in our article Biomass Emissions - Regulation and Legislation.

For a more detailed review, click to read our blog article The Nitty-Gritty on the RHI.

Maintenance is as much about preventative measures as keeping your system running smoothly. There are requirements to maintain systems associated to incentives also, such as the RHI. You can read all about why in our blog 5 Reasons to Properly Maintain Your Biomass Boiler.

To tell you how much it costs to install a biomass boiler we will need to understand your requirements and expectations. Because these are different for every customer and site, speak to Rural Energy so that we can understand your needs better.

Please call 0203 189 0654 so we provide you with an estimated price once we understand more about your individual requirements.

Of course, the size of the biomass boiler influences the time it takes to complete an installation also, with Herz Firestar, Pelletstar and PelletFire boilers often completed in a day. Many other influences can effect the amount of time a project takes and often the installation, commissioning and operator training of the biomass system are the least time-consuming aspects of a renewable heating project.

As with most biomass queries, speaking to an expert to assist in your project planning is must. Reach our team on 0203 189 0654 to get started!