Biomass District Heating

Biomass could be described as the technology of the moment, delivering large carbon savings whilst making financial sense and providing a strong, lengthy track record of successful projects in all sectors ranging from education and healthcare to residential developments, hotels and commercial and industrial sectors.

When done correctly, biomass can be commercially comparable to other technologies, whilst delivering much higher CO₂ reductions. This is great news for both the public and private sector who strive to deliver value for money, low-carbon solutions.

District Heating Pipework – runs

What is Biomass?

The premise behind biomass is simple … you take organic material, such as woodchips, wood pellets or organic waste and then burn it in a biomass boiler or furnace to produce heat. This can be used to provide heat and hot water and is regarded as renewable energy.

Typical biomass boiler systems can power single buildings or be connected to multiple buildings via a district heating network. An example of the multiple building approach is the University of St Andrews Biomass Heating project, where a biomass furnace heats water at a remote site and pumps this through an underground district heating network to the main University campus, 4 miles away, where it heats 42 buildings and 2,600 student homes.