Carbon dioxide (CO²) is taken from the atmosphere and used to grow by trees. When they die and decay or are buried, this CO² is released back into the atmosphere. In a mature, unmanaged forest the amount of carbon dioxide being absorbed by growing trees is the same amount as what is being given off by decaying dead trees, animals, microbes etc, that live off the trees as they live and die.
Wood is never removed faster than it is added by new growth. Therefore the CO² released when the wood fuel is burned, is never anymore than the CO² being taken up by new growth.
Biomass fuelled heating systems burn wood pellets, wood chips or logs to power central heating and hot water boilers. The use of biomass in heating systems is beneficial because it uses agricultural, forest, urban and industrial residues and waste, to produce heat and electricity with less effect on the environment than those of fossil fuels.
HETAS originated as the “Heating Equipment Testing & Approval Scheme”. They are the governing body of solid fuel domestic heating appliances, fuels and services and are responsible for the registration of competent installers and businesses. For more information please visit www.hetas.co.uk
This approval allows you to use the stove with dry wood only, or approved smokeless coal, in a smoke controlled area. These restrictions are usually placed in heavily populated urban areas, normally larger towns or cities.
Renewable energy is generally defined as energy that comes from resources which are continually replenished on a human timescale such as sunlight, wind, rain, tides, waves and geothermal heat.
About 16% of global final energy consumption comes from renewable resources, with 10% of all energy from traditional biomass, mainly used for heating, and 3.4% from hydroelectricity. New renewables (small hydro, modern biomass, wind, solar, geothermal, and biofuels) accounted for another 3% and are growing rapidly.
The share of renewables in electricity generation is around 19%, with 16% of electricity coming from hydroelectricity and 3% from new renewables.
While many renewable energy projects are large-scale, renewable technologies are also suited to rural and remote areas, where energy is often crucial in human development.
Renewable energy sources, that derive their energy from the sun, either directly or indirectly, such as Hydro and wind, are expected to be capable of supplying humanity energy for almost another 1 billion years, at which point the predicted increase in heat from the sun is expected to make the surface of the Earth too hot for liquid water to exist.
