High quality timber is processed by sawmills for the
construction, furniture and other industries, producing residues
and co-products such as off cuts, bark and sawdust. These are
potentially suitable for woodfuel.
Up to 60% of all wood going into sawmills can end up as a
co-product, though much of this material is used to make existing
products such as panel board or horse bedding.
Sawdust, especially dry sawdust from sawing kiln dried timber,
is potentially highly suitable for wood pellet production.
Small scale pellet presses designed to be used alongside sawmill
operations are available in the UK. For sawmills with insufficient
capacity to justify a dedicated press, a portable/travelling pellet
press may be another alternative. However, pellets produced in
small scale presses are not high enough quality for sale
commercially.
Case study: Rowan Timber
Rowan Timber, located in Plains, Lanarkshire, formerly produced
20 tonnes of wood co-products per week. Solid timber off-cuts were
placed in skips, costing approximately £8,000 per annum to dispose
to landfill using a local contactor.
Instead these co-products are now converted to wood fuel to heat
their offices and workshops, saving £8,000 in land fill costs per
annum, significantly reducing heating costs and delivering a saving
of 213 tonnes of CO2 per annum. The 390 kW boiler consumes 15
tonnes of wood co-products per week.