WFQA
  • Home
  • About
  • Become A Supplier
    • Why become a WFQA Supplier
    • Benefits Of Certification
    • Application Documents
    • Supported By
    • Steering Committee
  • Find A Supplier
    • Firewood Suppliers
    • Woodchip Suppliers
    • Wood Pellet Suppliers
  • NEWS
    • Gallery
  • Air Emissions
  • Contact
    • Useful Links / FAQ

News & Updates

PRESS RELEASE: IrBEA Cautiously Welcomes New Standards for Domestic Solid Fuels

9/13/2021

0 Comments

 
Picture


7th September 2021
Immediate Release:

​Following several years of lobbying for the regulation of wood fuels, the Irish Bioenergy Association (IrBEA) cautiously welcome Minister Ryan’s announcement on New Standards for Domestic Solid Fuels. The new regulations set a standard for wood moisture levels, ensuring that wood fuel is clean burning and efficient for the householder. Noel Gavigan, Technical Executive at IrBEA said “the introduction of a 25% limit on fuel moisture content, later to be reduced to 20%, is a welcome development for the market. Through the Wood Fuel Quality Assurance (WFQA) scheme which we administer, we already have several dozen wood fuel suppliers in the Irish market that only produce fuel to the 25% moisture content standard. WFQA certified wood fuels at this low moisture are of great benefit to the customer in terms of efficiency, heat generation and clean burning.” IrBEA is concerned over one aspect of the proposed public awareness campaign. Which states “Ask yourself: Do I need to light a fire? – Use other cleaner heating sources instead if possible.”  The new proposed public awareness campaign suggests that consumers should question the use of a fire to heat their home. Mr Gavigan continued “this proposed element “do I need to light a fire?” sends a confusing message to the general public. Any campaign rolled out by the department should encourage people to move away from open fires and fossil fuels and use more efficient and renewable heating sources rather than questioning if they should light a fire in the first place. For many a fire is the only heating option available. The department through any awareness campaign should encourage consumers to use Eco-design wood fired appliances as a replacement to open fired fossil systems.” IrBEA looks forward to engaging further with the Department as they develop these proposals to regulate the domestic solid fuel market and discussing the range of options available to homeowners to decarbonise their heating systems where retrofit is prohibitive for various reasons. Sean Finan, CEO of IrBEA concluded “The success of the proposed solid fuel regulations implementation will ultimately depend on the level of resources dedicated to its enforcement and regular monitoring of compliance. This needs to be backed up by an effective campaign which encourages consumers to make the move away from fossil fuels sources to renewable options. Wood fuels offer homeowners with an opportunity to decarbonise their home heating systems very quickly. This needs to be encouraged through government supports and incentives as for many homeowners, the cost of deep-retrofitting is financially and logistically prohibitive.
ENDS

For Further Information Please contact Seán Finan IrBEA CEO on 087414648 

​

0 Comments

Wood as a Fuel - A newly published book, Volumes 1 - 5

5/5/2021

0 Comments

 
Picture
WOOD AS A FUEL comprises five volumes which describe the main woodfuels: firewood, woodchip and wood pellets. They comprehensively outline raw material sources, seasoning, drying and production processes, transportation and quality issues. Many examples of ways to improve product quality and efficiency are provided, designed to enable readers to produce and use high quality woodfuels.
The history of woodfuels, an outline of what wood is, and why it makes such a useful and versatile fuel are covered in the opening volume. Standards, the backbone of woodfuel trade, are outlined. Trade itself, and other relevant aspects of transacting woodfuel, round out the introductory volume. The final concluding volume comprises two parts. First combustion, wood ash and embedded energy are covered, while the second part deals with economic and sustainability aspects of woodfuels, including one of the main rationales for their use: tackling the climate emergency. Other topics covered include sustainable harvesting, and how modern bioenergy use leads to clean combustion. These volumes open a new window into woodfuels, providing an essential and comprehensive reference for all those engaged along the woodfuel chain.
 
The book costs €49.50, including postage and packing, and can bought through the books tab at Arrow Management
https://arrowmanagement.ie/products/?filters=product_cat%5Bbooks%5D
0 Comments

An updated proposal from IrBEA to regulate the moisture content of firewood for sale in Ireland

2/15/2021

0 Comments

 
The Irish Bioenergy Association (IrBEA) has previously submitted an outline proposal to the Department of Communications, Climate Action and the Environment for the regulation by the Department of the moisture content of firewood for sale for domestic combustion. This document updates the previous proposal and suggests a pathway and timeline for regulation of the moisture content of firewood for sale.
The objectives of the proposal to regulate the moisture content of firewood for sale are:
  • To contribute to improving air quality in Ireland in the context of the developing Clean air
    Strategy, the recent EPA report Air Quality in Ireland 20181, and the CAFE Directive, and
  • To enable the continued use of sustainable firewood fuel in domestic heating as a replacement
    for fossil fuel and thereby contribute to climate change mitigation.
Read the full document here
0 Comments

McCauley Wood Fuels: A family business leading the Irish biomass market

2/3/2021

0 Comments

 
Picture
McCauley Wood Fuels is a family owned business and a leading biomass and wood fuel supplier in Ireland. Based in County Leitrim, an area known for having a high level of forest cover, the region they are in the heart of has significant suitability and potential in terms of biomass production. The business is operated by Kenny McCauley along with his father Brian; began in 2008 and with ongoing investment in production and equipment they have steadily grown the business.
The primary motivation for McCauley Wood Fuels is to displace Carbon intensive fuels such as oil, gas and peat. Using locally grown wood biomass, they provide a fuel source that allows both homeowners and businesses to move towards Carbon neutrality. Ireland is particularly well suited to biomass production, given the climate, soil types and existing agricultural industry.
Not only does wood biomass provide a Carbon neutral energy source, in most cases it is also very cost effective, particularly where there is a large and consistent heating demand. As a result, typical consumers of the wood biomass produced by McCauley Wood Fuels are industrial operations, farming enterprises (poultry, pig, and fruit/veg), as well as hotels and leisure centres.
A typical week at McCauley Wood Fuels sees the dispatch of enough wood chip to heat the equivalent of 4,500 households, or 36% of the households in County Leitrim – Displacing fossil fuels with carbon neutral, WFQA certified wood biomass for Renewable Heat.
Over the past three years, the McCauley’s have increased production to over 10,000 tonnes per annum – equating to roughly 400 truckloads and enough biomass to displace approximately 4 million litres of fossil fuel oil per year – all with wood grown in Leitrim and surrounding counties.


Read More
0 Comments

The Irish Bioenergy Association (IrBEA) responds to consultation on the Draft National Air Pollution Control Programme

2/3/2021

0 Comments

 
IrBEA responded to the Department of Environment, Climate Action and Communication  consultation on the draft National Air Pollution Control Programme (NAPCP) before the January 22nd deadline. The main points raised in the IrBEA response were as follows:
  • The draft NAPCP recognises proposals for roll out of a large number of heat pumps in domestic homes over the next decade. IrBEA highlighted that heat pumps will only be able to partially decarbonise our economy considering the cost of retrofit, availability of labour and age profile / energy efficiency of the housing stock across the country.
  • The decarbonisation of heat will need to include wood fuel systems in domestic houses, particularly in larger and older houses and those in rural areas.
  • Less than half of Irelands heating requirements are at temperatures suitable for heat pumps.
  • Any heating above 60OC will need to be decarbonised using a technology other than a heat pumps and bioenergy has a major part to play at all temperatures.
  • The use of properly designed appliances for wood fuels have a dramatic impact on particulate emissions

Read More
0 Comments

Webinar 6: Biomass options for domestic heating

9/9/2020

0 Comments

 
Picture
Decarbonising Irelands housing stock is a significant task that needs to be undertaken in the next 15 to 20 years. Current plans call for deep retrofitting 60,000 houses per year for the next 10 years so that these houses reduce their heating demand to a level suitable for heat pumps, or other low heat systems. With Ireland struggling to build 30,000 houses per year for a variety of reasons including labour shortages it is obvious that the plan to deep retrofit 600,000 houses by 2030 can not be achieved. Biomass heating with wood pellet boilers or gasification boilers offer the opportunity to dramatically reduce carbon emissions from houses traditionally using oil and peat, and to do so at much less cost than the deep retrofit / heat pump model. In this webinar we will discuss the costs and practicality of converting houses to biomass, and will discuss with technology providers the options available for householders.
View the live Webinar here and the presentation slides here
Speakers
Ger Crosse - WoodCo Renewable Energy
WoodCo Renewable Energy has become a leading manufacturer and supplier of residential and commercial Biomass Boiler systems. Their manufacturing facility is located in Tipperary, they have supplied over 4,000 boilers worldwide. Installations include pigs, mushroom and poultry farms, care homes, hotels & leisure centres.
In recent years, the company’s Research and Development team have begun to focus on complex waste-to-energy systems and Woodco has won several awards including the prestigious Green Product Award in 2018.

Colm Byrne - Glas Energy
Biomass combustion is a complex process from forest to flue. Often design issues only arise after many years of operation. It was for this reason that in 2005 Glas Energy decided to partner with one of Europe’s industry leaders, HDG Bavaria. Built on a tradition of heating with timber the Bavarian company manufacture a highly reliable efficient range of boilers to manage all wood-based fuels including sawdust, shavings, chip, pellet and solid timber. In this webinar Colm will speak about 15 years of experience with wood Gasification boilers in Ireland. He will highlight the importance of setting expectations, system design and components and the essential role that solid timber can and needs to play as a fuel source for both the rural home, local economy and national targets.

IrBEA Panelist
Noel Gavigan - IrBEA Technical Executive (Chair)
0 Comments
<<Previous
    Picture

    Archives

    September 2021
    May 2021
    February 2021
    September 2020
    August 2020
    July 2020
    June 2020
    May 2020
    April 2020
    March 2020
    February 2020
    January 2020
    December 2019

    Categories

    All
    BIOENERGY FUTURE IRELAND CONFERENCE – WEDNESDAY 26 FEBRUARY 2020
    Bioenergy Future Ireland In Croke Park
    Climate And Air Roadmap For Agriculture
    Farmers Journal
    IrBEA National Bioenergy Conference 2020
    RTE ECO EYE Wood Forest
    Types Of Fire Wood And How Long They Burn
    WFQA Certified Irish Firewood To Heat Your Home
    Wood Fuels Need To Be Treated Differently To Other Solid Fuels
    YOU Can Make A Difference WFQA Certified Irish Firewood

    RSS Feed

Location

Dublin

Innovation Campus, 11 Old Finglas Rd, Glasnevin, Co. Dublin

Sitemap

HOME
ABOUT
  • About WFQA
  • Why become a WFQA member?
  • Membership
  • Supported By
BECOME A SUPPLIER
  • Your Team
  • Useful Links / FAQ
FIND A SUPPLIER
  • Firewood - Wood Pellets - Wood Chip
BLOG NEWS UPDATES FROM WFQA IRELAND
CONTACT
Picture
GDPR / Cookies Policy 2020

Contact Us

We are open:
Monday – Friday 10 AM – 8 PM

Email:
contact@wfqa.org
Phone:
(01) 442 8597

Call the WFQA team to discuss your requirements IrBEA will guide the applicant through the application procedure and certification process.

    Subscribe Today!

Submit
  • Home
  • About
  • Become A Supplier
    • Why become a WFQA Supplier
    • Benefits Of Certification
    • Application Documents
    • Supported By
    • Steering Committee
  • Find A Supplier
    • Firewood Suppliers
    • Woodchip Suppliers
    • Wood Pellet Suppliers
  • NEWS
    • Gallery
  • Air Emissions
  • Contact
    • Useful Links / FAQ