What impact do Wood Pellets have on climate change?

wood pellets fuel storeFor decades, the wood residue from manufacturing & sawmilling processes was burned in beehive burners and unwanted logs, branches, and tops from harvesting were left on site, creating fire and insect risks. Today, an increasing amount of that is being turned into wood pellets.

Here at Balcas Energy, our locally produced pellets are manufactured sustainably from the virgin wood residue as a co-product of Balcas’s sawmilling process.  The original timber is either spruce or pine and they are locally sourced from sustainably managed forests, accredited by the Forest Stewardship Council. Our pellets are available to be delivered all across UK and ROI ensuring our consumers can do their part in helping the environment.

So, what impacts do they have on environment…

Wood pellets are part of the climate change solution as we switch away from fossil fuels. The energy industry is increasingly using biomass to replace fossil fuels to substantially lower greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions.

Wood pellets are supported a lot when it comes to providing energy. The worlds leading authority on climate change known as The United Nations Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), has recognised the significant GHG mitigation potential of biomass as much as 80 to 90% provided that it is developed sustainably and used efficiently (Murray, 2020).

Why choose Balcas Energy?

wood pelletsThe wood pellets created here at Balcas Energy are created to a high standard, bagged securely, and meet ENplus A1 certification standards which ensures your biomass appliance will need to face any issues from the wood pellets we create.

When choosing wood pellets, it is good to know where they come from and how they are produced as many of us would like to ensure they are created in a way that is sustainable and has a good impact on the environment.

When a tree falls to the ground and rots, it releases carbon dioxide. When we harvest a tree from a local forest, Balcas uses every part of it to create timber products, energy, and ensures four more trees are planted. The products we create from the timber such as those used in construction become long-term carbon sinks that store carbon long after the original tree would have rotted and decayed if left in the forest naturally. We also use 100% renewable energy to create the wood pellets in our two local plants in Enniskillen and Invergordon.  Please watch our sustainability video that outlines how Balcas Energy performs  Balcas Sustainability Story. From tree to renewable energy and back to the tree. – YouTube

Here at Balcas Energy, our main aim is to provide good quality wood pellets at a competitive price to ensure our customers get excellent renewable energy. If you have any queries please check our FAQ page before contacting us.

To place an order:

Thank You,

Balcas Energy

 

Everything You Need To Know about Wood Pellets

As the largest manufacturer and distributor in the UK and Ireland, we thought that in addition to the FAQ section of our website, we would prepare an easy-to-read guide on everything you need to know about wood pellets, how to prepare for the winter, and where to get them!

What are Wood Pellets?

Wood Pellets are small, cylindrical pieces made from wood residue produced as a by-product of Balcas’ sawmilling processes in Northern Ireland and Scotland. The pellets created, are made locally at the highest standards with the original timber being either spruce or pine locally sourced from sustainably managed forests.

As an alternative to fossil fuel, wood pellets are an environmentally friendly fuel. Especially thanks to the manufacturing process at Balcas, where we make them with renewable energy and high-quality materials. Our operations are powered by green electricity, generated on-site thanks to the co-products of all Balcas saw-milling activities.

For every tree we use, 4 more are planted – the heart of our sustainability story.

 

What are wood pellets used for?

As an alternative to fossil fuel, wood pellets are an environmentally friendly fuel, used for heating purposes. They are used in biomass boilers to produce heat, and hot water in homes. Furthermore, in the commercial and industrial sectors, they are used as a zero-carbon fuel, for heat generation and industrial production.

How Much Do Wood Pellets Cost?

Depending on how you want to store your fuel, we’ve put together the best prices we could. See here the options on how to store your pellet fuel

As we have different prices for each location, you can quickly add your location, postcode, and choose your product type (Bulk or Bags) HERE. Your unique price will be shown on the screen with Delivery charges and taxes included. The quote you get is the price you pay.

Do I need Good Quality Wood Pellets?

When looking to buy your pellet fuel, you have to make sure that they are certified ENplus A1 and they also have a BSL accreditation. At Balcas Energy we carefully screen, test, and quality check each pellet, in order to comply with the highest quality accreditation.

ENplus A1 is the best assurance and guarantee of premium-quality wood pellets that you can get. Low-quality wood pellets can damage your boiler and cost you more in the long run.

Where can you buy ENplus A1 Pellets?

As we manufacture our wood pellets, we’re in control of our supply and stocks. We supply all year round, across the islands of Ireland and Great Britain, and supply from 10 different depots strategically placed around the countries.

We use our own delivery fleet for providing Bulk Wood Pelletsavailable to order online anytime. Alternatively, you can order via phone, via email, or via our Online Form and our Customer Support Team will place your order for you.

Our 10kg Bagged Wood Pellets are also available online and we deliver across all UK & Ireland. They are available in different sizes: 250kg, 500kg and 750kg. The 960kg pallet for bags is only available on the Island of  Ireland at the moment, but we’re looking into making this available for GB soon. Just add your postcode and check your price.

How many wood pellets are used in a year?

Depending on how you want to store your fuel and based on your heating needs, this can vary from as little as 3 tonnes per year in a home setting.  However, if this was an industrial setting such as whiskey production or big commercial customers in need of large amounts of heat production, this would be thousands of tonnes per annum.

To find out how much you would use, you have to look up your current energy bill and see how many kilowatt-hours you are using on a monthly basis. If you take into consideration that an average of 4,000 kWh of heat requires around 1 Tonne of high-quality wood pellets, you can easily calculate how many tonnes you would need for your home in a year.

Please also take a look at everything you need to know about wood pellets storage instructions here.

Is Demand High for our locally sourced fuel?

Due to the banning of Russian-origin pellets in 2022, many suppliers had no stock meaning our customer base increased massively. As the market is in a much more stable condition for the 2023 winter heating season, we expect extremely high demand again for our locally produced, ENplus A1 wood pellets.  We strongly recommend that you take the opportunity to fill your fuel store well in advance.

If you have more questions…

Please visit the FAQ section of our website. You can also email us or call us anytime, we’ll get back to you ASAP!

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Our locally produced carbon-neutral fuel  for Sale – Online OR Offline

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6 key reasons to why businesses should focus on energy efficiency

Many businesses will argue energy efficient is unachievable for many reasons such as: it doesn’t happen overnight, it takes a long period to see a reduction in energy usage, and takes years to see a return on investment for energy-efficient projects. This would be very difficult for business managers to adhere to as their main aim is to make profit. Despite business energy managers facing huge challenges, energy efficiency has a variety of benefits for businesses.

Key Benefits of Energy Efficiency

Energy efficiency helps reduce costs – In the past, energy efficiency was seen as uncontrollable. However, more companies are using energy in a controllable manner and are seeing positive financial implications for the company.

Reduced risk – In recent years, the global energy markets have been increasing significantly and this trend is expected to continue. The best way to limit the effect the unpredictable energy markets can have on your business is to generate your energy.

Improving brand reputation – Within the last year, more and more people are more aware of the advantages of being environmentally friendly. Brands becoming more environmentally aware and being energy-efficient, will improve the brand reputation.

Energy efficiency can improve working conditions for employees – By businesses ensuring they are energy efficient, they are improving employees’ comfort levels, well-being, and performance. By businesses being more energy-efficient, they can provide appropriate lighting and properly installed Heating Ventilation and Cooling (HVAC) systems which improve employee productivity.

It’s good for the planetGlobal concerns about climate change have increased massively over the past year. A good way for businesses to reduce the environmental impact of their energy use is to become 100% renewable energy suppliers. Lowering the carbon footprint can go hand-in-hand with reducing your energy spending, meaning your business and the planet can benefit.

Being efficient can help with compliance –  The UK and ROI governments have created specific plans to benefit the world we live in. In 2019, the UK government passed laws to end its contribution to global warming by 2050 meaning all greenhouse gas emissions will be net-zero. With businesses accounting for around 18% of all carbon dioxide emissions in the UK, it would be impossible for the UK to reach these targets. With more strict rules coming into place In the future, businesses that act now will be in a much better position than those that don’t. To read these in more depth, please visit Surple.

What is the Climate Action Bill?

In 2020, ROI created a Climate Action bill. This plan creates a new target to reach carbon neutrality by 2050, which will change the economy and society at every level. ROI plans to change how homes are heated, generate power, moving around the country, grow our food, and run our businesses. It sends a clear signal to every sector that it must reshape its activities to reduce emissions.

How can Balcas Energy wood pellets persuade business managers to become energy efficient?

  1. The carbon footprint of wood pellets – Pellet fuel can produce one-tenth the carbon as heating with oil. If the forest the wood pellet material is sourced from is managed sustainably, the carbon footprint is significantly reduced in comparison with fossil fuel heat. This is why in Balcas Energy we pride ourselves on our sustainability story.
  2. Forests can directly benefit – By using environmentally reliable sources for production, burning pellets releases fewer carbon emissions than if trees were left to decompose. This allows modern forestry organisations to enhance the rate of carbon elimination from the environment by replanting new trees which absorb CO2.
  3. Wood pellets are natural – When it comes to using pellets, there are no chemicals or dangerous extracts included that could be harmful to you or the environment. Pellet fuel is made from scratch using green energy and high-quality material from trees grown in sustainable forests.
  4. Storing is very easy – Wood pellets can be stored in any dry room. They are not easy to ignite and do not pose a significant fire hazard. Whereas fossil fuels such as fuel oil, gas, diesel fuel, and coal are easily flammable and contain harmful odours.

Is there a high Demand for wood pellets as we approach the winter heating season?

For the month of August, we generated the most sales we ever had in this month due to the pricing and demand for our wood pellets. As none of us know what is going to happen this upcoming heating season in regards to stock levels, we can say based on demand within the last 2 months, we are expecting to be very busy.

Informative emails were sent throughout the summer advising customers to stock up to ensure they are not left disappointed for the heating season ahead. If you haven’t stocked up, we are strongly advising you to do so. Our Pellet plant Is working 24/7, 7 days a week to full capacity to give us the best chance of meeting all our customer’s needs.

pellet plant

If you have a business and are looking for more information,  please feel free to contact us via our Contact Us form on our site, sending us an email by clicking the button below, or give us a call and one of our Account Managers can chat you through everything:

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Balcas Energy is the largest manufacturer & distributor of carbon-neutral wood pellets, supplying fuel since 2004. We offer heating contracts where you can pay by kWh and help with an energy solution tailored for your business, whatever that is.

Summer Bank Holiday 29th of August

Do you know where your wood pellets are produced?

Notice of temporary ENplus wood pellets suspension

May Bank Holiday

Our office is closed on Monday, 1st of May for the May bank holiday. We’ll reopen as normal on Tuesday, 2nd of May.

Our Online Shop is still open as normal and you can order online anytime you want. You can send us a message via our site or email us and we’ll respond once we’re back.

Thank You,

Balcas Energy

Island Pellet Stoves

Site Visit to our Enniskillen Plant

St Patrick’s day Closing Times

St Patrick's Day

For St Patrick’s Day, Balcas Energy Customer Support Office is closed on Friday, 17th March, and will reopen as normal on Monday, 20th of March.


You can still order online anytime 24/7 via our Online Shop.

 

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Thank You,

Balcas Energy