Ignition09 event champions wood as fuel of the future

Mar 12 2009 by Tony Henderson, The Journal

WOOD had been around as a source of fuel for thousands of years. But yesterday a major event on Tyneside hailed it as a renewable fuel of the future.

The UK’s first wood fuel expo, Ignition09, at The Sage Gateshead yesterday and today aims to give businesses and organisations in the North East the chance to find out how they can become more efficient, both financially and environmentally, by using wood fuel.

The event is backed by One North East and Rural Developments Initiatives.

Jonathon Porritt, chairman of the UK Sustainable Development Commission, who launched Ignition09 said: “People need to understand how urgent it is to start developing this country’s wood fuel industry. We’ve talked about it for years whilst others have been taking action.

“This is potentially a huge industry and Ignition09 is a fantastic opportunity enabling companies to make an informed decision on whether wood heat is a viable option for their business in the future.” There are 250,000 acres of woodland in the North East but around a quarter is unmanaged. Forestry Commission regional director Brendan Callaghan said this quarter added up to a potential resource of around 100,000 tonnes of timber a year.

Of the 700,000 tonnes of wood harvested in the region annually, only around 15,000 tonnes fuelled places like schools, hospitals and business and commercial buildings.