On 26thMarch, 2007 Scotland's Deputy First Minister Nicol Stephen revealed that Langside Farm was to receive a share of £10.5 million funding in a programme aimed at reducing CO2 emissions by 37,000 tonnes a year.
Langside's project to install a Biomass central heating system is one of 74 innovative renewables projects around the country.
Mr. Stephen said: "I am determined that Scotland becomes the renewable energy powerhouse of Europe. We have a real opportunity to be leaders in the green energy industry and these biomass projects represent a significant step forward for our renewable ambitions. Through our Biomass Support Scheme we will see carbon savings of 37,000 tonnes per annum, supporting up to 50 MW of green energy production."
The picture shows our brand new central heating boiler, in its so far undecorated boiler house. It is located in an outbuilding, next to the road. We use locally produced wood chip as fuel. It is delivered in large dump bags and emptied into a hopper built into one end of the building, adjacent to the road, from where it is easy to unload the fuel. An automatic feed system moves the exact quantity required into the furnace, where it is burned at near optimum efficiency to produce hot water to heat the whole farmhouse. We use the waste heat given off by the boiler to dry our laundry.
We were granted planning permission from North Ayrshire Council in May, 2007 and refurbishment of the building started in June with the removal of the largely rotten roof. We recycled this to make some compost bins.
The end of June saw the start of 2 weeks of frenetic activity: On the 25th, there was no roof on the building. Three days later, the main structure of the roof was in place, and later that day the boiler arrived. With a bit of help from our friends with some heavy machinery, the boiler was moved into position, and work on the roof was completed. Over the next two days, we built the wall that separates the boiler from the fuel store. Then on the Monday morning, the technical installation team arrived. By 12th July it was all ready for commissioning. Finally, we linked it up to the existing central heating system and connected the electrical controls. We completed the installation and fired the system on schedule in mid-August 2007.
The boiler is a Heizomat 50 kW model. In the picture, the fuel bunker is behind the wall on the right. It has a capacity of 20m3 (3+ tonnes) and is top loaded through a trap-door in the roof. The feed auger can just be seen coming through the hatchway. Beside the boiler (hidden from view in this picture) is a rotary valve to prevent fire getting back to the feed auger and bunker; below the valve is the discharge auger feeding the combustion chamber. On the left is the fan assisted flue.
This boiler has an operating efficiency of 92%, so we should see some significant savings on our heating bills. More to the point, it will reduce our carbon dioxide emissions by at least 12 tonnes per annum.