Wood Fuel for Schools - Forstbetrieb Holstein

Описание: The Holstein Forest Enterprise (Forstbetreib Holstein), located in Bebra-Weiterode (county of Hersfeld-Rotenburg), clearly shows that bioenergy contributes to the regional economy and is able to create full time jobs. The company was founded by Frank Holstein, himself a forester, in 2005. The company removes forest residue, trims branches around electrical wires, keeps train tracks free of fallen trees or branches and clears wood from road construction.

Wood collected in this way can be a source of regional energy that is only being utilized recently. Today the Holstein Forest Enterprise, which employs eight full time staff members, offers a valuable service by recycling this bulky wood into fuel. At the centre of the company's operations is the portable wood chipper. It cuts every kind of wood into small wood chips. In this way, the volume is drastically reduced allowing for easy transportation as bulk cargo and trouble-free burning in automated combustion wood-fired boilers.

The wood chips are used in the large heating systems of schools, indoor swimming pools and biomass power stations. The business-model is "heat contracting": customers do not buy the wood chips but pay for the heat produced by burning them. Long-term supply contracts are agreed upon between the forest enterprise and the customer. The price is based on many factors including the current cost of heating oil. In 2010, energy from wood chips was sold for 5 US-cent per KWh (3.5 Euro-cent). Wood chips are an inexpensive source of fuel; its energy-costs are less than half compared to heating oil. Despite the higher start-up and operation costs, the use of wood chips in large heating systems is still good value. Moreover, they are energy-efficient; the energy used to harvest, transport and process the wood chips accounts for only 3% of total energy output.