Fuel for the future gets EEDA backing

Woodlands in the East of England are set to provide fuel for the future after a new project received one of the largest funding awards of its kind in England.

The East of England Development Agency (EEDA) has awarded £4.3 million to increase the use of wood-based energy production.

The £10.7 million Woodfuel East project will help cut carbon emissions by providing locally produced and sustainably sourced fuel. It will also help create jobs and businesses in the rural economy and improve biodiversity.

The award has come from the Rural Development Programme for England (RDPE), which is a combination of European funding and money from the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, delivered regionally by EEDA.

Woodfuel East initiative is a partnership governed by representatives of 25 organisations from across the region, co-ordinated by the Forestry Commission.

Landowners will be encouraged to manage neglected woodlands, which has the added benefit of creating new habitats for wildlife.  There are about 140,000 hectares of woodland in the East of England, around seven per cent of the total land area, but 50,000 ha are undermanaged or not managed at all.

Felled trees and cut branches, which might otherwise go to waste, can be chipped for use in specialised boilers. These can provide heat and hot water for medium-sized buildings such as schools, village halls and offices, particularly in rural areas with no gas supply.

David Sillett, EEDA Rural development manager said:

“Woodfuel East, which covers Cambridgeshire, Bedfordshire, Hertfordshire, Essex, Suffolk and Norfolk, will encourage a co-ordinated supply chain, from land owners through to the marketplace for wood chips.

“With new markets, come new opportunities which will be of particular benefit to the rural economy.”

Mr Sillett added:

“By 2013, we could be saving at least 75,000 tonnes of carbon dioxide emissions per year and supplying the equivalent of 12,500 homes with energy.”

Edwin Van Ek, of WoodFuel East, said:

“This is a real kick-start to the wood fuel industry in the East of England. Woodfuel East can provide advice and investment support to the supply chain.

“It is also good news for biodiversity, as woodland management such as coppicing, where trees are cut back and allowed to regrow, creates new and varied wildlife habitats.”

“Land owners can also benefit by installing modern, efficient wood fuel boilers to produce heat and hot water for their buildings, using wood produced from their own woodlands,” he said.

“The latest wood fuel boilers are easy to operate and very efficient, producing very small amounts of smoke and little ash. With recent increases in fuel prices, switching to wood fuel also makes financial sense.”

Sustainable construction courses offered

Sustainable construction techniques and how to administer buildings sustainably are set to be taught at Bedford College.

Argon Housing, a Bedfordshire social housing provider, has helped develop a pair of two-year qualifications that will teach skills needed for and by the construction industry.

The foundation degrees in Sustainable Construction and Building Services & Sustainability, will include vocational and academic teaching methods.

Director of Construction at Bedford College, Warren Edwards, said: "Bedford College and Aragon Housing have teamed up to provide some exciting new training and employment opportunities for local people.

"Through these developments we have realised the wider opportunities to support our local communities by working together."

When students complete their foundation courses, which are the equivalent of the first two years of a degree, they can complete an Honours degree at the University of Bedfordshire.

A recent Carbon Trust report concluded that companies in the building materials industry stood to gain the most from reducing their carbon emissions and making the transition to a low carbon economy.

Plans for windfarm resubmitted

Plans for a windfarm in north Bedfordshire are to go back to the council which rejected them originally after being significantly modified.

Nuon Renewables has scaled back the project, cutting the number of turbines it had planned for the site by two thirds from nine to three.

The project, which is expected to cost £7 million, will also set the turbines farther away form nearby villages and rights of way than in the original plans.

Will Wason, project manager, told Bedford Today: "It is a similar scheme, but we feel it should be given planning permission by the council.

"As soon as we had the result last year of the previous application we began working on this. We hope we have produced something that will be acceptable in light of the objections that were raised last time, but which will still generate a decent amount of green energy."

Mr Wason pointed out that the reduced scheme would mean that only a third of the energy the scheme was originally devised to generate would be created.

He added that the region had to generate 647MW from wind power by 2010 and was currently producing just 120MW.

The government has set targets of 15 per cent of electricity being generated from renewables by 2020, though campaigners say significant investment is required to reach the target.

Fuel saving sat-nav developed

A satellite navigation system that can help drivers cut down their fuel expenditure and carbon emissions has been developed by Bedfordshire’s Cranfield School of Management.

The VREAM is a vehicle routing device designed by Dr Andrew Palmer of the Centre for Logistics and Supply Chain management at the campus.

Using a digitised model of road networks and data on predicted traffic volumes and speed glows, the model takes congestion and carbon reduction into account.

It considers the amount of acceleration and deceleration a driver might engage in on different roads as both those driving actions increase fuel consumption.

According to Dr Palmer, using the most fuel efficient routes can cut fuel consumption by more than five per cent.

He added: "The aim has not been to produce new mathematical theories, but to produce a pioneering basis for routing which will provide new information and knowledge about how CO2 emissions vary for different minimisation and congestion criteria."

The device has been developed as drivers are increasingly being urged to practice fuel efficient eco-friendly driving. New drivers are now assessed on their fuel-efficient driving as part of the driving test, though it can not affect the outcome of their overall test.

According to the Department for Transport, the road transport sector is one that could reduce its emissions the most.

Mid Bedfordshire trials food for compost and energy

Mid Bedfordshire council used scraps of food waste to generate renewable electricity as part of a waste management pilot project.

The scheme administered by the Waste and Resources Action Programme (WRAP) saw a total of 4,400 tons of food waste used to nourish the land.

According to the organisation, the 19 local authorities throughout England and Northern Ireland that collected food waste from 94,000 homes managed to reduce carbon emissions by 2,000 tonnes.

The compost has been used to fertilise farming and horticultural land and help redevelop reclaimed land.

Mid Bedfordshire council was one of two councils to put the waste through anaerobic digestion, a process which uses bacteria to release gasses from the waste which can be burned for energy.

Phillip Ward, director for local government services at WRAP, told 24dash: "If you design a scheme like this with the customer in mind, making sure you give them what they need and discussing their concerns about whether it’s going to be messy or smelly and how that can be dealt with, then results can be achieved."

Bedfordshire recycling brand celebrates 10th birthday

A recycling brand dreamt up by Bedfordshire County Council is celebrating its tenth birthday.

The "Recycle Now!" brand is recognised by up to 93 per cent of the population of the UK and is more recognisable than the likes of Fairtrade, a TNS Omnimas report said.

Mark Burley, managing director of Waterhouse Design who created the logo said: "The Recycle Now! logo has lived on and moved with the times without losing its identity. We are absolutely delighted to learn that, since its launch, Bedfordshire’s recycling has gone through the roof."

According to research published on recycle.co.uk, 93 per cent of 549 Bedfordshire residents recognised the logo, regardless of whether they recycled or not, and 45 per cent said the logo had encouraged them to recycle.

Sub-brands have been created since the implementation of Recycle Now!, with the likes of Nappies Now!, Reduce Now! and Compost Now! all coming into the public consciousness.

Bedfordshire County Council is currently taking steps to reduce traffic congestion in Leighton Buzzard in plans that should be completed before Christmas.

Marston Vale eco-town plans on tour

Developers behind the Marston Vale eco-town project are to hold roadshows in mid-Bedfordshire to showcase their plans for the development.

O&H Properties Ltd, the developer behind plans to build 15,000 homes at Marston Vale by 2020 is hosting the roadshows as part of the consultation process.

Marston Vale is one of 13 sites shortlisted for eco-town developments across the UK.

The scheme has been opposed by resident’s groups in Lidlington and Marston Moretaine, reports Bedford Today.

David Reavell, director of O&H Properties, said: "These road shows mark the beginning of our community engagement programme to ensure everyone with an interest in the future of the Marston Vale has access to the latest possible information."

There are other proposed sites in the east of England, though the proposed developers of Hanley Grange, near Cambridge have pulled out. Meanwhile, the government has received planning permission for a prison on another nominate site in Coltishall, Norfolk.

According to the Daily Telegraph, publication of a final shortlist of eco-town sites has been pushed back from October to some time next year.


Roadshow events:

Thursday, August, 28: Marston Moretaine Village Hall, 2pm – 8pm

Tuesday, September 9: Millbrook Village Hall, 2pm – 8pm

Tuesday, September 16: Stewartby Village Hall, 2pm – 8pm

Tuesday, September 30: Wootton Memorial Hall, 4:30 – 8pm

Thursday, October 9: Lidlington Hall, 2pm – 8pm

Wednesday, October 15: Brogborough Village Hall, 2pm – 8pm

Bedfordshire and Cambridgeshire supermarkets recycle food waste

Supermarkets in Bedfordshire, Cambridgeshire and Northamptonshire are sending their waste food to an anaerobic digestion plant as part of a trial.

Biodegradable waste from five Waitrose branches is collected by recycling firm Cawleys and taken to Biogen’s anaerobic digestion plant in Bedford.

In the plant, the waste, which can include paper plates and biodegradable products as well as food, is mixed with bacteria in giant tanks, where it creates biogas – methane and carbon dioxide.

Instead of simply releasing the carbon dioxide in the waste slowly into the atmosphere as the food rots in a landfill, the waste is used to power a biogas power plant.

Heat generated during the process is regularly reused and the final solid by-product can be used as fertiliser.

Waitrose Recycling Waste Manager Arthur Sayer told FoodBev: "Anaerobic digestion has been operating in other European countries, such as Germany, for decades, so we thought it was worth trying out on a commercial scale for our supermarkets. So far, the signs are really positive, and this looks to be a sustainable way of eliminating the need to send waste food to landfill."

Environment minister Joan Ruddock told the Times that anaerobic digestion was the "way forward".

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