BIOMASS ENERGY CONTENT & PRICE INFORMATION:
Table 3 Typical bulk, calorific and energy densities of different biomass and fossil fuels
| Fuel | Net CV1 MJ/kg | CV kWh/kg | Bulk density kg/m3 | Energy density by volume MJ/m3 | Energy density by volume kWh/m3 | |||
| Lower | Upper | Lower | Upper | Lower | Upper | |||
| Woodchips @ 30% | 12.5 | 3.5 | 200 | 250 | 2,500 | 3,125 | 694 | 868 |
| Log wood (stacked- air dried: 20% MC | 14.6 | 4.1 | 350 | 500 | 5,110 | 7,300 | 1,419 | 2,028 |
| Wood – solid oven dried | 18.6 | 5.2 | 400 | 600 | 7,440 | 11,160 | 2,067 | 3,100 |
| Wood pellets | 17 | 4.7 | 600 | 700 | 10,200 | 11,900 | 2,833 | 3,306 |
| Miscanthus (bale – 25% MC) | 12.1 | 3.4 | 140 | 180 | 1,694 | 2,178 | 471 | 605 |
| House coal | 29 | 8.1 | 850 | 24,650 | 6,847 | |||
| Anthracite | 32.1 | 8.9 | 1,100 | 35,310 | 9,808 | |||
| Oil | 41.5 | 11.5 | 865 | 35,898 | 9,972 | |||
| Natural gas | – | – | – | 36 | 10.13 | |||
| LPG | 46.9 | 13.0 | 500 | 23,472 | 6520 |
Source: Gastec at CRE Ltd. and Annex A,Digest of UK Energy Statistics 2007
FUEL COST COMPARISON:
| Fuel | Price per unit | kWh per unit | pence per kWh |
| Wood chips (30% MC) | £100 per tonne | 3,500 kWh/t | 2.9p/kWh |
| Wood pellets | £190 per tonne | 4,800 kWh/t | 4.0p/kWh |
| Natural gas | 4.8p/kWh | 1 | 4.8p/kWh |
| Heating oil | 58p per litre | 10 kWh/ltr | 5.8p/kWh |
| LPG (bulk) | 49p per litre | 6.6 kWh/ltr | 7.4p/kWh |
| Electricity | 15.0p/kWh | 1 | 15.0p/kWh |
Source: Biomass Energy Centre – Typical prices for bulk purchase of fuels at domestic or small commercial scale, August 2011. These prices are intended for guidance only and represent the typical cost per unit of fuel energy for comparison.
