Renewable Energy Installer May 2015 | Page 14

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, ¿UHZRRGDQGSHOOHWV7KHVHPLJKWEHPDGHIURPYLUJLQUDZPDWHULDOVZDVWHRU 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- VXSSOLHUVOLVWVHUYLFHJRYXN¿QGDIXHO 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.