Renewable Heat Incentive

[Tomatin Firewood]

I heard a rumour that the Renewable Heat Incentive Domestic will not include log gasification boilers. Has anybody else heard anything? As this is in consultation stages we really want to try and push for this.

 

Obviously for anyone selling logs it is in their best interests that this grant does support our woodfuel as it will not only mean only more business for everyone, but also in my opinion it makes use of the most locally sourced wood fuel and is the woodfuel with smallest carbon foot print.

 

Possible reasons for removal of log gasification boilers from RHI include more feeding of log boilers compared with pellet systems, concerns that customers will source wood from unsustainable sources and that proper supply of logs for these systems cannot be properly governed.

 

Does anybody know if we have representing body who will back our corner on this?

[billt]

Renewable Heat Incentive: consultation on proposals for a domestic scheme - Department of Energy and Climate Change

 

Glancing through the new consultation document it looks as though only pellet boilers will qualify, although it is rather vague. The justification is that they want to ensure that the fuel quality is sufficiently consistent to ensure that the boiler will operate efficiently at all times - not something you can guarantee from your run of the mill log supplier!

 

Para 94 P 34 says

 

"We are proposing to introduce a sustainable fuel eligibility requirement following a transition period because of the time necessary to establish an approved supplier system. We intend that from April 2014, consumers would have to purchase the biomass for their boiler from one of the approved suppliers. As evidence, consumers would be asked to keep their invoices to show they have purchased from approved suppliers and to submit them annually to the RHI scheme administrator as a condition of receiving their RHI payment. Before then, we would recommend that consumers purchase sustainable fuel."

 

It would seem that pellets are the easy way to control fuel quality, and it's probably a lot easier to fit industrial pelleting operations in with the bureaucracy.

[ThrustSSC]

Renewable Heat Incentive: consultation on proposals for a domestic scheme - Department of Energy and Climate Change

 

Glancing through the new consultation document it looks as though only pellet boilers will qualify, although it is rather vague. The justification is that they want to ensure that the fuel quality is sufficiently consistent to ensure that the boiler will operate efficiently at all times - not something you can guarantee from your run of the mill log supplier!

 

Para 94 P 34 says

 

"We are proposing to introduce a sustainable fuel eligibility requirement following a transition period because of the time necessary to establish an approved supplier system. We intend that from April 2014, consumers would have to purchase the biomass for their boiler from one of the approved suppliers. As evidence, consumers would be asked to keep their invoices to show they have purchased from approved suppliers and to submit them annually to the RHI scheme administrator as a condition of receiving their RHI payment. Before then, we would recommend that consumers purchase sustainable fuel."

 

It would seem that pellets are the easy way to control fuel quality, and it's probably a lot easier to fit industrial pelleting operations in with the bureaucracy.

 

Oh, hell. All that means is it's yet another scheme for passing on public (our!) money to their mates in the 'approved' firms :-(

 

Joe Bloggs in the back-of-beyond looking to convert from expensive oil to local sustainable wood has suddenly been denied all hope of recognition of his efforts, while Clyde Ponsonby-Smythe in his mansion can convert to less-green pellets with a subsidy, buying off James Engleby-Jones who also does nicely.

 

We should have known better than to leave the Civil Service to work this scheme out...

[difflock]

Especially as there were quite a few problems with the pellets supplied here in the Province a few years ago.

Problems sufficiently intractable such as to cause people to rip the boilers out and go back to oil.

I understand the big firm in question has now got a grip on their production and delivery processes.

Unfortunately in some part the problems were due to ignorant installers who needless to say were fully certified.

btw I was not at all impressed by the female staff on the HETAS stand at the APF, fat lot they care about quality or the end-user. IMHO.

[Mike Dempsey]

I am just pissed off that normal wood burning stoves will never qualify for any RHI scheme. There must be plenty on this forum who burn their own logs either as arisings from tree surgery or as firewood suppliers. Even if log burning stoves did qualify how would you prove how much timber you used in a year. The only way I could think off was to sell logs to my mate and buy logs from him. Bit crazy isnt it?

[face cord]

Didn't someone on here already install log gas boiler hoping to get the RHI commercial rate for two dwellings?

 

Seems unfair on people who have invested alot of money in it on the belief RHI covered there choice of heating.

[markieg31]

This strikes me as another crazy idea. I used to eork for a firm selling and installing wood gasifacation boilers. Most people have bought these in the hope that the rhi would be sorted soon and now they are going to get bugger all.

A pellet system is generally a lot larger than the log system, as in having to have a bin/ hopper for the pellets and furthermore there always seems to be problems with the auger systems. Lot more moving parts more to go wrong!! As in previous post it the hard working one man log company that will lose out here because I can't see wood gasifacation boilers selling now!

[hardtop110]

I know it seems like a done deal, but if you want to try and do something about it then how about responding to the consultation? There are some good points raised here, which should be rammed home to the whitehall monkeys.

[andy26]

Surely if logs had to be purchased from a Hetas certified supplier this would satisfy the fuel quality and environmental credentials. This could be seen as a positive by professional firewood outfits, differentiating their product.

 

The RHI has suffered from being the last of the renewable schemes to be implemented. The wind and solar sector have had most of the cream.

[David Riding]

its all to do with the efficiency of the boilers, nox levels and where heat meters would be fitted, there would have to be water boiler on the log burner and the log burner would have to heat the whole house through the central heating. Also it would be too open to abuse, as if the log burner was in one room, it could be left burning 24 hours a day for profit and you could feed the boiler with anything to make it burn hot and get the heat meters up.