The benfits and problems with wood as a fuel.

Ok as Irish we are used to turf and footing it out on the bog, leaving to dry, saving it and finally burning it. In much the same way as turf people say you get heated twice from wood, once when you chop it and second when you burn it.

First off it is a renewable fuel if bought from responsible forests where they are constantly replanting for the future. If burnt correctly its carbon neutral and unfortunately thats where we irish fall down a little bit. On the continent they are used to seasoned wood whcih means it has been split, raised off the ground, stacked and left to dry for 18 months to 2 years. The moisture content is now less than 20% and it burns cleanly leaving very little ash, giving great heat, and giving a beautiful fire.

Unfortuneatley in Ireland we tend to cut it down leave it for a week or two and then burn it. This results in low heat output, cresote (like a varnish on your stove or flue inside) dirty glass and a dirty chimney/flue. This in turn reduces the efficiency of your stove in the future. If your fire is crackling and spitting you know the moisture content is wrong and you will not be getting the heat you should be from your fire. This is because the fire is working to dry the wood first which cools the core temperature of the flame and makes for an inefficienct burn.

The good news is we are changing. At a wood energy conference last year both Teagasc and Coilte were encouraging people and land owners to enter the wood energy business. While the trees are primarily grown for building timber as the trees grow they become too crowded. Thinning occurs of the crooked trees or where there are just too many. These can then be used fro firewood. The leaves and needles are usually stripped and left on the forest floor to allow the nutrients seep back to the soil for the other trees left behind. The smaller branches are chipped for use as wood chip fuel and best of all this can all be done at a local level meaning your fuel is not transported from all over the world contributing further to climate change.

The biggest downside to wood logs is their bulk. You ideally need to have a large shed to store them or else you end up paying more for them if buying in small quantities. As more people start to use dry wood logs the market will grow and prices should come down further.
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