Wood Fuel Market.

 Wood Fuel Market.

I own and manage a small wood, so I am sometimes asked if I sell fire wood. The simple answer is No. I could do as a result of the general management potential fire wood is generated. Producing fuel for my two log stoves is viable. There is a lot more than I can sensibly fell, as the woods develop this will increase. 
Without specialist equipment splitting and cutting logs is a long hard slow process. The specialist equipment is too  expensive for a small producer. That is before the costs of delivering to potential customers is considered.
The final disincentive  is The Air Quality (Domestic Solid Fuels Standards) (England) Regulations 2020. This is to ensure a minimum amount of particulates is produced on burning, by ensuring that wood fuel has a moisture content no more than 20%. To sell into the retail market, an amount less than 2 cubic meters, the seller needs to be audited and registered. This costs £507.60 the first year and £385.20 inc. vat in subsequent years. This removes any financial incentive there might have been for managing a small wood. Registering to supply biomass to people on the Renewable Heat Initiative (RHI) is a more modest £144 but says nothing about the quality of the fuel. Most RHI receivers use chip or pelleted wood. Like much modern timber technology there does not appear to be a sufficient supply to justify a large production plant. I can't find a commercial pellet producer in England. It is undeniable that burning damp wood is bad for air quality and should be discouraged. Is taking locally grown fuel out of the economy, to be replaced by imports of wood or gas any better for the environment?
I shall continue to manage my woods to a high standard. This is a luxury  I can afford in terms of time, being retired. Stacks of rotting wood does seem a shame. Selling to a large wholesaler would be a possibility, but they would have the costs of collection on top of all the costs I would have. They are used to Forestry Commission thinnings or imported containers, and not interested in an odd lorry load.  Then having to store dry and deliver, hardly an attractive proposition. It remains to be seen whether the rise in gas prices transfers into the wood fuel market. If it does will that increase domestic production or imports?