Tag Archive for: renewable energy

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:



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.

3 reasons to love renewable energy this Valentines.

Government announcement: Companies must commit to net zero emissions to win major government contracts

We’re delighted to hear and support the UK government’s announcement that businesses must commit to net zero by 2050 before they can bid for major government contracts.

net zero carbon by 2050

Any firm applying for a public sector contract worth more than £5m a year will have to meet the criteria from September.

From September, firms seeking public sector contracts worth more than £5m a year will also have to publish “clear and credible carbon reduction plans” before being considered, the Cabinet Office said.

It means that all firms bidding for contracts will have to meet the new criteria – not just those who win, a government spokesman said.

Under the new plans, a carbon reduction plan will have to set out where a company’s emissions come from and the environmental management measures it has in place.

For the entire press release which outlines the new criteria please read more on the Government website here.

 

If you have a business and you’re not familiar with these new changes and don’t know how to go carbon neutral, 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 at and one of our Account Managers can chat you through everything:


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.

You can read more about our heat contracts and about our team here.

Five reasons why Tomorrow Depends on Trees

climate change trees

Here are Five reasons why all our Tomorrows Depend on Trees and how Balcas Energy supports the fight against climate change:

 

1. Carbon Dioxide is warming the earth and accelerating climate change. Trees absorb CO2 and store it.

2. Balcas Energy is made from fast growing softwood – we plant four trees for every one we harvest, offsetting any CO2 released.

3. By making our business local, we are supporting a sustainable timber industry that is making increased forest cover a reality in the UK and Ireland. Ireland wants to increase its forest cover  by 64% by 2050. The UK wants to increase its forest cover by 19% by 2050.

4. Trees are the ultimate renewable resource – we can grow them right here without having to worry about global market price fluctuations.

5. Moving from fossil fuels to Balcas Energy’s locally produced wood pellets results in a 100% reduction in carbon emissions.

 

How we make our wood pellets?

We sustainably manufacture our wood pellets in our two plants located in Enniskillen, Northern Ireland, and Invergordon, Scotland.

We make them with renewable energy and high quality material. So our operations are powered by green electricity. We generate this on site thanks to the co-products of all Balcas saw-milling activities.

The original timber is either spruce or pine, which are all locally sourced from sustainably managed forests.

Click here to see Balcas Energy Sustainability Manufacturing Process…

 

Click here to see our prices

Renewable energy edges out fossil fuels as Britain goes coal free for two months

renewable energy

 

Last night marked a significant landmark in the renewable energy sector. Great Britain has gone two entire months without burning any coal to generate power.

A decade ago about 40% of the country’s electricity came from coal; coronavirus is part of the story, but far from all.

When Britain went into lockdown, electricity demand plummeted; the National Grid responded by taking power plants off the network.

The four remaining coal-fired plants were among the first to be shut down.

The last coal generator came off the system at midnight on 9 April. No coal has been burnt for electricity since.

The current coal-free period smashes the previous record of 18 days, 6 hours and 10 minutes which was set in June last year.

Displacing fossil fuels is nothing new to Balcas; we’ve been producing renewable energy now for over 15 years. Both by making wood pellets and creating renewable electricity for our local communities.

Balcas Energy’s Invergordon and Enniskillen sites have production capacities of 115,000 tonnes and 60,000 tonnes of wood pellets respectively.

Our operations are so efficient that we put surplus electricity back into the grid throughout the year:

  • Invergordon, Scotland has a production capacity of over 110,000 tonnes a year. This is the largest local pellet prodiction facility in the UK and Ireland and has a 9MW CHP (electric) capacity, of this 5MW is exported to the grid, while the other 3MW used on site.

 

  • Enniskillen, Northern Ireland is the site of a 3MWe Combined Heat and Power (CHP) plant and pellet mill with a production capacity of over 60,000 tonnes per annum. It is located on the same site as the our timber mill due to the close proximity of raw materials.

 

Our biomass pellets are always available, as we are in control of manufacturing and distribution. Wood Pellets for sale online 24/7 via our Online Shop:

Read full story on BBC…