February 21, 20206 yr 9 minutes ago, Thedreamer said: how long will be until you can start harvesting? I would assume about 4-6 years I got my cuttings from this company. If your land is very wet then pick a specific species that will grow in that environment or do some serious drainage! i have a wet but drained hill side with rich soil as it was previously a bog. https://mammothwillow.com/store/
February 21, 20206 yr 4 minutes ago, Ferdinand said: Out of interest, which type of willow? My biomass is Chinese, Q83, DRH Brown, DRH Green these are specifically developed for fuel. but I have planted about a dozen other species of willow for show as they come with such wonderful coloured barks and buds !
February 21, 20206 yr We seem to have quite a lot of pussy willow growing on the verges. Thanks for the link @Cpd I will have a look at this.
February 21, 20206 yr Author Just now, Thedreamer said: We seem to have quite a lot of pussy willow growing on the verges. Thanks for the link @Cpd I will have a look at this. If that is Sumac, then make sure you keep it at a distance. It is a weed once it gets going.
February 21, 20206 yr 1 minute ago, Ferdinand said: If that is Sumac, then make sure you keep it at a distance. It is a weed once it gets going. This is the stuff. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pussy_willow Quite nice to put in vase in the spring.
February 21, 20206 yr 2 minutes ago, Ferdinand said: If that is Sumac, then make sure you keep it at a distance. It is a weed once it gets going. Isn't it just! We had some self-seed whilst our garden was still a building site (it grows along the side of the stream next to us). I didn't worry about it, until I came to try and uproot all the saplings. They had roots going down to the centre of the earth, it seemed. A couple of the larger ones (but only about 3 years old) we had to take out with a digger.
February 21, 20206 yr Author 18 minutes ago, Jeremy Harris said: Isn't it just! We had some self-seed whilst our garden was still a building site (it grows along the side of the stream next to us). I didn't worry about it, until I came to try and uproot all the saplings. They had roots going down to the centre of the earth, it seemed. A couple of the larger ones (but only about 3 years old) we had to take out with a digger. And if you cut it down you will get 20 or 50 from the suckers ? .
February 21, 20206 yr Author 30 minutes ago, Thedreamer said: This is the stuff. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pussy_willow Quite nice to put in vase in the spring. Yep. That would be more OK, We used to know Sumac as "Pussy Willow" when we were children.
February 22, 20206 yr Author The Impact Assessment for this measure with a huge amount of background info (eg: Household in Englannd using Coal as main energy source = 49k) for this issue: https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/867428/burning-wood-consult-ia.pdf Edited February 22, 20206 yr by Ferdinand
February 22, 20206 yr Just now, Onoff said: If burning wet wood, can you condense then re burn the smoke? Pretty much what happens. The water vapour tends to condense out on the cool parts of the flue and run back down as a sort of watery, creosote-like liquid, that then either takes more heat from the stove to vaporise again, or leaks out of the flue at any bends, perhaps. The heat from the phase change from vapour to liquid is given up higher up the flue, usually, and then more heat is taken from the stove to re-vaporise it. It might be possible to make some sort of heat exchanger to extract heat to cool water, so warming it, but the environment in a wood stove flue is fairly harsh, as many of the products of combustion are both toxic and corrosive.
February 22, 20206 yr 6 hours ago, Ferdinand said: The Impact Assessment for this measure with a huge amount of background info (eg: Household in Englannd using Coal as main energy source = 49k) for this issue: https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/867428/burning-wood-consult-ia.pdf The first section of this seems to make the reasons for doing it pretty clear: Quote What is the problem under consideration? Why is government intervention necessary? The UK must, under the National Emissions Ceilings Directive (NECD), reduce overall national emissions of particulate matter with a diameter of 2.5 micrometres or less (PM2.5 ) alongside other key pollutants, to protect its citizens and environment from the resultant damage. Domestic burning of solid fuels is by far the largest source of PM2.5 emissions. There is a strong body of evidence linking increased mortality to long-term exposure to PM. The domestic fuels market does not currently take into account this negative externality. Sulphur dioxide (SO2) is another key pollutant emitted from the burning of domestic fuels. In recent years there has been an increase in the availability of cheap high sulphur smokeless fuels on the market. The government is taking action to protect the public and the environment from the damage caused by exposure to these pollutants (with co-benefits for reducing other toxic emissions to help meet its domestic, EU and International law obligations). This legislation is a bit late, IMHO, as we have been trying to control smaller sources of air pollution, like vehicle emissions, and emissions from power stations, for decades, yet we have seemingly failed to act on what is now the single greatest cause until now.
April 8, 20215 yr On 21/02/2020 at 22:05, Cpd said: My biomass is Chinese, Q83, DRH Brown, DRH Green these are specifically developed for fuel. but I have planted about a dozen other species of willow for show as they come with such wonderful coloured barks and buds ! This sounds very interesting @Cpd any chance you could post some photos of how they look once fairly mature?
April 9, 20215 yr @Adsibob I will try and remember but if you don’t see me post then please drop me a reminder, I planted these last winter as cuttings and in the first growing season the Q83 shot up like nothing I have ever seen..... from a 600mm cutting (200mm in the ground - 400mm sticking out ) they have grown to at least 10 to 12 feet !!! The other types went well and most about 5-6ft but I was pretty shocked at the growth on the Q83. I am now a bit concerned that at that rate of growth they will not be wind firm in the location I have them..... but will just wait and see.
April 9, 20215 yr @Cpd How many acres of coppice have you planted? From memory I think it takes a couple of acres in harvest rotation to keep a house warm.
April 9, 20215 yr 10 hours ago, epsilonGreedy said: From memory I think it takes a couple of acres in harvest rotation to keep a house warm Cover it in PV, it has an energy yield about 40 times of biomass.
April 9, 20215 yr 19 minutes ago, SteamyTea said: Cover it in PV, it has an energy yield about 40 times of biomass. 2 acres of PV would keep you warm ?
April 9, 20215 yr 1 minute ago, Bonner said: 2 acres of PV would keep you warm And a fair few neighbours as well. And no chopping down and post coppicing processing. Always worth comparing the energy yields, and associated power outputs for different energy sources.
April 9, 20215 yr 10 hours ago, epsilonGreedy said: How many acres of coppice have you planted? From memory I think it takes a couple of acres in harvest rotation to keep a house warm. I have a total area of 6.3 acres / 2.5 hectares and I have planted about 2/3 of it, within that there is 0.5 acres of existing low grade birch woodland. I have not planted just biomass Willow but a fairly huge variety of species with the majority being birch, Scots pine and willow. I have also planted about 300 eucalyptus of which 150 are quick growing species designed to be coppiced. there are lots of trees planted just for nature conservation including hundreds of trees which provide great blossoms for bees and hundreds of trees to provide berries for birds. And lots of trees to feed myself with including cob nut, hazel and lots of fruit trees. 24 minutes ago, SteamyTea said: Cover it in PV, it has an energy yield about 40 times of biomass. Pretty inappropriate site for PV I am not preaching biomass...... or anything ..... but have a huge garden that is dedicated to wildlife enrichment, being beautiful and a wonderful place to explore and to one day provide fuel fir some of our heating... the fuel part is only one area in my efforts to become more self sufficient along with some livestock and vegetable growing. I would love to have PV on all the buildings one day and a wind turbine but have NO capital so that’s not going to happen anytime soon.
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