Renewable Heating Incentives

Scotland’s efforts for a ‘greener’ society are now being put into process, with plans being materialised before our eyes, and finally actions are being made to prevent our well established economy from collapsing under the strain of global warming.

Scottish firms are being urged to burn wood for heating as part of attempts to reduce energy bills, cut greenhouse gas emissions and ultimately support rural businesses.

A campaign launched today aims to promote demand for renewable timber resources and wood fuel heating systems, which from later this year will be eligible for payments under the UK government's £860m renewable heat incentive scheme.

Forestry Commission Scotland said that the Scottish economy brings in more than £25m a year from producing and using wood fuel from existing forestry, new plantings or by-products from the timber industry.

It also claims that burning logs, woodchips, pellets or briquettes saves around 500,000 tonnes of CO2 a year, which in comparison to other natural resources makes it one of the greenest solutions around.
Rebecca Carr, renewables advisor for Forestry Commission Scotland, said that demand for wood fuel north of the border has increased 300 per cent over the past four years, the commercial and industrial sectors alone accounting for 450,000 oven-dried tonnes of wood fuel each year.

"Burning wood for heat benefits the environment and supports rural economies. It gives users and suppliers a true 'fuel good' factor, with more and more businesses and individuals recognising that switching to wood fuel can save operating costs," she said.

The campaign is led by Usewoodfuel Scotland, an EU-funded partnership between Forestry Commission Scotland, Scottish Government, Scottish Enterprise and Forest Research's Biomass Energy Centre. Its web site lists information on wood fuel sources, suppliers, funding and incentives for businesses.

A wave of new biomass power plants is currently being planned across Scotland and the rest of UK, although it has faced opposition from some environmental groups which have warned that the plants could be largely reliant on imported timber that undermines the carbon savings delivered by the technology.

However, the sector hopes that the expansion of the UK biomass industry could deliver a steady supply of domestic and sustainably certified timber.

Renewable heating incentives are not just for large companies, or firms, even the homeowners can benefit from converting to a ‘greener’ lifestyle.

Installing a Heat Pump, solar system or a gas condensing boiler in your property has never been so easy, as you will now be eligible for the RHI scheme. The government estimates how much renewable energy your system produces and a fixed amount is paid each year - up to 18p for every kWh of energy.

The renewable heat incentive will ultimately last between 10 and 23 years, and is coming into effect as of spring 2011, though back payments will be made to today. Reducing carbon emissions and stimulating the UK’s green economy is what this heating incentive is aiming for. The renewable heating incentive is a replica of the successful Feed-In-Tariff scheme which paid property owners for producing renewable electricity.