Farmers ‘Should Consider Biomass Heating’

Farmers are in a strong position to capitalise on the benefits of biomass heating and power systems, and can receive financial benefits for doing so, it has been pointed out.

An article for Smallholder noted that there are a number of advantages to installing biomass heating for those who work in agriculture. The first is that they have an inexpensive source of fuel in the form of things like chicken waste.

The news provider noted that advances in technology mean that chicken waste, also known as litter, could provide the perfect fuel for chicken farmers, especially with the UK government’s renewable heat incentive (RHI), which is designed to encourage more businesses to install biomass heating.

Angelo Giambrone, business development manager for Spirax Serco UK, said that for chicken farmers it’s “like the cherry on top of an already sweet deal”.

“Not only are they burning animal waste as an inexpensive source of fuel, but they also receive money from the government in the form of a quarterly payment,” he stated.

Mr Giambrone also noted that new biomass technology means plants can produce steam instead of hot water. This has the added benefit of enabling the system to produce electricity in addition to heating and hot water.

As well as then producing the electricity to meet their needs, farmers with this kind of biomass system are able to claim additional money under the RHI because they’re producing power as well as heating and hot water.

Earlier this year, the chief executive of the Climate Change Committee Chris Stark said that businesses should look to decarbonise sooner rather than later, or risk being forced to take steps towards becoming more environmentally friendly through legislation.