Leisure centre exploits local wood-chip fuel
Godalming’s new leisure centre is heated using local sources of biomass energy. LC Energy is supplying 150 t of wood chips annually over the next five years, supporting 20% of the centre’s energy needs. The wood chips will be sourced from local and sustainable wood stocks and delivered from Shere, eight miles away from the centre, which is owned by Waverley Borough Council.
Bryn Morgan, the councillor responsible for climate change and sustainability at Waverley Borough Council, said, ‘The biomass boiler will take advantage of Waverley being the most wooded borough in the most wooded county [Surrey] in the country. We expect the income from the Renewable Heat Incentive to be around £17 000 a year.’
The south east of England has over 270 000 ha of woodland, only half of which is managed effectively. If more sustainable management practices for woodland were introduced, estimates from the Forestry Commission suggest that the south east could supply an additional 500 000 t of timber a year for conversion into wood chips for boilers.’
