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58 Evaluation of Opportunities for Converting Indigenous UK Wastes to Wastes and Energy AEA/ED45551/Issue 1 The estimated poultry litter resource in the UK is around 1.3 million tonnes as a significant proportion of birds are free range, and there will still be considerable spreading to land occurring. 92 Approximately half of the 1.3 million tonnes is already committed to EPRL (Energy Power Resources Limited) energy from waste plants, generally from the largest commercial poultry farmers. Such plants are at Thetford, Eye and Westfield, the centres of the UK poultry industry (see later for more information). 4.5.3 Conclusion Controlled agricultural wastes such as sacks, chemical residues etc are too heterogeneous to be a viable feedstock. Agricultural residues have a large potential to be utilised for energy. The residues split into two types – dry residues that can be utilised through combustion, and wet residues that have the potential to be utilised through AD. In both cases, the data for total arisings do not represent availability for energy as significant amounts of these materials are used in traditional applications. In addition arisings are seasonally dependent, straw only arises for a short period in late summer and must be stored, slurries and manures are largely available only when animals are wintering, or in enclosed spaces. These two factors make the availability of residues for energy uncertain and a function of market conditions at any one time. We were unable to find information on the impact that the step change in deployment implied by the Renewable Energy Strategy would have on alternative uses. This may have detrimental effects on some affected sectors that will not be offset by the increases energy business. 4.6 Forestry Residues 4.6.1 Definition Woodland covers an estimated 2.8 million hectares in the UK mainland, of which 1.57 million ha is conifer and 1.17 million ha broadleaf. 93 On the UK mainland, the highest proportion of woodland is in Scotland, 49%, England has 41% and Wales has 10%. Northern Ireland has a woodland area of 56,997 ha. 94 4.6.2 Composition Forestry residues are defined as those parts of a tree left on the forest floor after harvesting and not recovered for commercial purpose. Such material originates from forests and woodlands, as primary processing co-products and from arboricultural arisings. Forest and woodland residues include: 95 • Harvesting residues: tips of stems (a diameter of less than 7cm) and side branches. • Small round-wood: small stems removed from side branches with a diameter of 7-14 cm. 96 • Poor quality wood: trees large enough to be used for timber, but of such poor quality they would otherwise be left on site or sold as firewood. 92 st ETSU R-122: New and Renewable Energy: Prospects for the UK for the 21 Century, Supporting Analysis. 93 Addressing the land use issues for non-food crops, in response to increasing fuel and energy generation opportunities, NNFCC 2008, http://www.nnfcc.co.uk/metadot/index.pl?id=8253;isa=DBRow;op=show;dbview_id=2539 94 Forest Service, 2002. Facts and Figures, http://www.forestserviceni.gov.uk/factfigures01-02.pdf 95 About Woodfuel, Forest Research, 2003, http://www.eforestry.gov.uk/woodfuel/pages/AboutWoodfuel.jsp#Primaryprocessingcoproducts 96 Although it could be argued that small round-wood is not a forestry residue but a product. In the reference cited small round-wood is included to show the maximum potential availability. Availability of this resource will depend on price and market conditions.
Evaluation of Opportunities for Converting Indigenous UK Wastes to Wastes and Energy AEA/ED45551/Issue 1 By utilising the above resources from currently under managed woodlands, as outlined in the Forestry Commissions Wood Fuel Strategy (2006), 97 these woodlands could contribute significantly to the arisings of forestry residues available for conversion to energy or transport fuels. A potential disadvantage that would need to be accounted for is the negative effects of removing this material from a forest, which if removed in excess could result in a decline in soil quality and structure, a decline in water quality and a decline in carbon sequestration. 98 Production from commercial forestry systems is usually more complex than for annual or perennial energy crops, since the composition of the biomass obtained is a mixture of the above. 93 The figures used in this section are based on a detailed report by McKay et al. (2003), the Forestry Commission for the DTI, published in 2003. Any detailed information on the methodology used to calculate the forestry residue arising is available from this report. McKay et al. (2003) does not provide forestry residue data for Northern Ireland and this is therefore collected from other sources. Figures in ‘oven dried tonnes’ (odt) are often quoted in this area. This refers to wood that is completely dried (i.e. zero moisture content). In reality it is very difficult to produce such wood, particularly from virgin residues and wood fuel is typically available at a range of moisture contents. To overcome issues that variable moisture content creates for the comparison of wood (and other biomass) fuels, characteristics such as calorific value are often quoted for odt. 4.6.3 Current arisings The map of Great Britain from RESTATS shows the resource availability of forestry residues. As the arising data for forestry residues shows in the latter section of this chapter, a vast amount of forestry residue exists in the UK. However the availability of the resource is an issue since it is already marketed to other industries and any remaining residue left on the ground contributes to effective forestry management through decomposition and soil nutrient maintenance. Therefore this chapter provides the forestry residue arising data, however they are not necessary available for energy projects. 97 A Woodfuel Strategy for England, Forestry Commission, 2006, http://www.forestry.gov.uk/pdf/fce-woodfuel-strategy.pdf/$FILE/fce-woodfuel-strategy.pdf 98 Forest Residues, Cranfield University, Ian Truckell, http://www.cranfield.ac.uk/sas/naturalresources/research/projects/forestresidues.jsp 59
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Figure 27 Orchid Environmental proc
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