Wood is renewable, and as it grows it takes in harmful (if too much) carbon dioxide (a greenhouse gas) and puts out oxygen.

Of course, there are many species of tree, but if you're going to install a wood burning stove (70% efficiency as opposed to an open fire of about 35%), then grow your own fuel (if you have space) and grow Common or European Ash. After 10 years you can cut down the tree to just above ground level and it will regrow as a bush (this is known as coppicing). Ash is a good fuel because of its low moisture content (30% rather than other wood usually having 50% water content), and can be burned 'green' (without storing for 2 years).

Wood pellets are a good source for a boiler, used for central heating and to top up your water heating in the winter months (you'll have installed solar water heating by now, won't you!!). It is a very automated and controllable system, with about 80% efficiency, but you'll need a dry storage shed so you can store bulk delivery (3 tons) for greater economy. Some pellets are produced in Ireland, but at the moment the majority are imported, and treated chemically to make them burn hotter.

The latest innovation is the wood log gasifier. As the name suggests, it takes logs (up to a metre in length), and you only need to burn it for a few hours a day to run central heating and hot water. You do need a large water tank (dual coil) to store the heat, but if you already have a solar water heating system you're set. It is the most efficient of the wood-fuelled systems (up to 95%), but it is costly for the best one (you can use wood with a higher moisture content with these).

Willow is also a good biofuel, and will burn in stoves and boilers. It is very quick growing, and also very easy to grow - just stick a cane into the ground (any time of year - but I believe March is the best time, at the start of the growing season) and it will be good to go. Canes (or rods as they are known as in the trade) are available from nurseries' cold-storage through to May. To harvest, just saw off - leave about a metre to regrow from. On a TV programme I watched it shows a plastic sheath at the bottom metre or so, to stop wild animals eating it. The willow has an added advantage of flowering very early, attracting pollenating insects, and especially bees, to your garden. A further advantage, which Teagasc is researching, is the effectiveness of willow plantations to absorb slurry.

 

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