Biomass is an alternative way, other than gas or electricity (created by fossil fuels), to heat up water in a building. This water can be used for a number of different uses such as heating and hot water outlets. The process involves burning either timber logs, wood chips or wood pellets at a fast rate to heat water, which can in turn be pumped into a building.
For biomass boilers to work as a large scale solution to sustainable energy, it must be exercised properly. This would require a very controlled reforestation program. This has a number of implications such as destroying animals habitats and planting on grazing land for livestock. As a result, it is predicted the country would have to eat less meat, and effectively become vegetarian, which I unfortunately had to experience at my field trip to the CAT centre in Wales.
In terms of efficiency, pellets are the best biomass fuel, with an average efficiency of approximately 90%, although some manufactures are offering a 96% guarantee. This is due to the wood being finely ground and then compressed meaning there is no air inside the pellet, maximising the fuel/volume ratio.Wood chips also have a very high efficiency, followed by logs, of which have an approximately 80% efficiency. When talking about efficiency, it is important to understand it only takes into account the efficiency of the biomass heater, and not the rest of the pipework ect. Also there are different grades of log, chip and pellet. The dryer the wood, and less bark it contains usually offerers the best quality fuel.
One issue with biomass heaters is the immense amount of fuel they use. For a large school, with an appropriately sized mediocre boiler, it would take approximately 2 tonnes of fuel to start the heater up, and then a continues feed is needed. Although this provides massive space problems, it also means someone must be employed specifically to feed the boiler. Despite there being hopper systems in place for pellet or wood chip boilers, these hoppers would need to be refilled quite regularly. When thinking from an economic point of view, the regular refill, fuel, maintenance, and wages to run a boiler must be considered. Also from a safety point of view, regular large lorry's delivering fuel could be considered a safety hazard with a large number of school children in and around the school. In addition, an area for the lorry delivery, store of fuel and boiler must be considered when designing the school grounds, which could be put to better use.
Another implication with biomass boilers is that they produce lots of dangerous gases. These must be extracted and deposited high into the air so they don't come into contact with humans. This must be taken very seriously, as dangerous gases around a school could be very harmful to its students.
For a biomass boiler of a size to heat a large school, it must be of a particular size. This size of boiler is very noisy and would have to be encased in a sound proof building so that it did not disturb the students who occupy the school. A separate building, or fire proofed room must also be built to store the fuel, in case there was a fire which would obviously be a serious disaster if the fuel got caught.
Taking into account the considerations and implications listed above, I do not think it is suitable for the school to have a biomass boiler, as they are too noisy, and require to much fuel to run.
All information was sourced from a guide at the CAT centre in Wales on 25/03/15.
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