Sustainability of Wood as a fuel??

[Sam Thompson]

we've established you can't use infected larch as firewood if bark attached so .......

 

Sorry, I was in a rush and found what I was basically going to say so quoted it - I dont know anything about the infection so its out of my park.

 

I think we need more willow, poplar and larches. Coppice needs to be investigated on a more mechanised level, rather than in this whole "keeping ancient skills alive" swollocks, and we need to be turning agric land into forests if we are serious about woodfuels as a country.

[dave fox]

Sorry, I was in a rush and found what I was basically going to say so quoted it - I dont know anything about the infection so its out of my park.

 

I think we need more willow, poplar and larches. Coppice needs to be investigated on a more mechanised level, rather than in this whole "keeping ancient skills alive" swollocks, and we need to be turning agric land into forests if we are serious about woodfuels as a country.

yeh right!! what happens to food prices??

[zeroluke]

Its true food prices are rising, but how many farmers are calling it a day due to farming not being viable? Though what many called non viable might be they can only afford the range rover, and the Massey and its fuel bill. The bulter and the game keeper are made redundant. I'd love them to try and get by on my income and then moan about having no money

 

You'd think they'd get planting trees on half their fields

[pembswoodrecycling]

Its true food prices are rising, but how many farmers are calling it a day due to farming not being viable? Though what many called non viable might be they can only afford the range rover, and the Massey and its fuel bill. The bulter and the game keeper are made redundant. I'd love them to try and get by on my income and then moan about having no money

 

You'd think they'd get planting trees on half their fields

 

Not sure that's very fair, food prices may be going up but farmers costs are going up quicker. Plus most of the extra cost is the fault of the supermarket, more transport costs etc.

 

The land that should be planted up with trees is the hillsides and moorland that can't be used to grow crops anyway.

[woodworm]

In April, we are going to plant 2 acres/2000 eucalyptus trees for firewood. In some trials in Kent, they were big enough to thin for firewood after 4 years. if all goes well we will then look at planting about another 15-20 acres of them. Quick growing, hardwood and lovely smelling firewood. Looking forward to it already:thumbup:

[StephF]

Some guy on radio the other day was saying the timber can only be moved if de-barked, and only moved by registered haulier to registered timber mill, but the cost of de-barking made it uneconomical to sell timber.

[likeitorlumpit]

Some guy on radio the other day was saying the timber can only be moved if de-barked, and only moved by registered haulier to registered timber mill, but the cost of de-barking made it uneconomical to sell timber.

 

this is it

so you have to let it rot where it's felled

source of infection surely

there must be some more sensible path

[Treecreeper1961]

As already suggested, it is hard to see how the human race can achieve sustainability in any aspect of life. If every household in the U.K. burned wood as their main source of heating, how many trees would need to be felled to feed that level of demand. Population growth is the greatest challenge we and the planet face. Food and energy production is already providing challenges as we all know, or do we?

The future may indeed be bleak if we dare to look toward it without blinkers. However, we must not abandon hope or fall into the trap of living for ourselves for today without thought of tomorrows generations. People must know and accept that our race is a plague on this planet, driven by greed and selfish desire for more and more. Only when enough realise and accept this can we hope to change. There must be a shift in consciousness if sustainability is ever to be achievable. Without that, we and our planet are truly destined for grim future.

I believe trees may be able to help with our challenges that are ahead of us. The benefits they can bring are fantastic and varied. Firewood may not be the all conquering answer but it is a damn site closer to sustainability than oil, gas or coal. There has to be a strategy that combines wood as fuel, trees for carbon sequestering and woodland for biodiversity. The shift in FC policy is going that way. Unfortunately, there are many answers that will not be fully utilized until the driving force in the world is altered from the greed of the powerful few( and apathy of the many) to one of a different path.

For now, I believe wood is good, coppice is great but trees are even better.

One question I ask occasionally is why do organisations that should know better insist on using native oak for sign posts, gates, all manner of countryside furniture? Is there sound policy behind this or is it the deluded actions of hypocritical hooray henrys?

I ask that question sincerely. Please explain to me why the Woodland Trust, National Parks, Statutory Conservation bodies and others do this. One hundred year old and even older oaks felled to the ground just so they can be milled up and stuck back into the earth to rot. I understand that industry and woodland management has traditionally been the guardians of our woodlands but surely this does not make sense, is no where near sustainable.

[StephF]

this is it

so you have to let it rot where it's felled

source of infection surely

there must be some more sensible path

The world has gone crazy!

[Canopy Tree Services]

Given that the cost of hardwood has gone up from £37 per tonne delivered to over £50 per tonne in the last two years, shouldn't the question be more about, can we actually afford wood as a fuel in the UK. Despite these cost increases, I still hear more and more people are installing wood burning stoves...

Most people using these stoves are not self sufficient in wood supply, so where is this price increase going to be passed on. I still see people selling nearly a cubic meter of wood (seasoned hard wood, so they say) for £50 per tonne. How is this cost possible.