Partner organisation MCS presents its regular column for REI
Opinion
Find a fuel
The government has recently approved legislation relating to
the fuel to be used by claimants of RHI for woody biomass,
reminds the MCS.
From 05 October 2015, all RHI claimants must demonstrate that the woodfuel
they are burning has been produced in a legal and sustainable manner, and
falls within certain greenhouse gas limits. Claimants of domestic RHI do this by
sourcing from an approved list of authorised fuels, of which the only one currently
recognised by Ofgem is the Biomass Suppliers List (BSL). Non-domestic
claimants may also choose to source from the BSL, or they can make other
arrangements, but in that case they must provide additional information directly to
Ofgem and submit to an annual audit.
The fuel types that can be authorised under BSL are woodchip, briquettes,
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a blend of both. The BSL does not include non-woody biomass such as straw or
miscanthus.
Companies apply to have their fuel authorised via an online portal. The BSL
gathers information about the lifecycle of a fuel, from raw materials through
processing, and then selling onwards via traders and retail outlets to the
customer. Activities are divided broadly into production and trading, and
companies apply to have their fuels authorised in either or both category.
Domestic customers must buy authorised fuels from traders, and they can search
for fuels and traders in their area on the BSL Find a Fuel site: http://biomass-
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If your customers want to start or continue claiming domestic RHI for woody
biomass from 05 October 2015 onwards they need to be purchasing BSL
authorised fuel. For further information on claiming RHI you can direct them to
Ofgem’s website:
https://www.ofgem.gov.uk/environmental-programmes/domestic-renewable-
heat-incentive
14 | www.renewableenergyinstaller.co.uk
I am currently immersed in the Energy
Related Products (ErP) directive. You may
know that from 26 September it becomes
mandatory for most heating devices to be
ErP compliant and to carry an energy label.
This includes air source, water source or
ground source heat pumps. Furthermore,
where a defined set of components are
installed together, then there is a need for a
‘Package Label’ which could include a solar
thermal device.
Now I know that some will see this as
yet another regulatory burden, although
by far the greatest impact will fall onto
manufacturers. However, energy labelling
has become widely understood in other
sectors, most notably in white good and
home appliances.
In addition, since heat pumps are likely
to be rated as either A+ or A++, it makes it
a whole lot easier to explain the benefits of
choosing a renewable heating device and
the concept of cost of ownership. I think
that awakening consumer interest may even
be instrumental in changing the view of
heating selection from a painful necessity
into an aspirational exercise. This is further
enhanced with the role out of smart meters
and the internet of things, or ‘widgets with
digits’ as I call it.
We think that it is so important that
we are about to launch in to a 40 venue
tour of the UK to explain the basics of ErP
and labelling to our customers and what
it means to manufacturers, merchants,
installers and consumers.