End user information:
In order to ensure the sustainability of biomass fuel and
subject to Parliamentary approval, the Department of Energy
and Climate Change plan to introduce biomass sustainability RHI
regulations in Spring 2015, with the obligation on RHI participants
to meet the sustainability requirements from Autumn 2015 (currently
taken to be Monday 5th October). The regulations will dictate
that in order to be eligible for the RHI, biomass
installations will be required to demonstrate, either through
reporting or sourcing from an approved supplier, that
their biomass meets:-
1) A greenhouse gas lifecycle emissions limit
target:Biomass fuel used by RHI participants must meet a
lifecycle greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions target of 34.8g CO2
equivalent per MJ of heat, or 60% GHG savings against the EU fossil
fuel average.
2) Land criteria: As outlined in the UK
Timber Standard for Heat and Electricity,
click here for further information.
For the Non-Domestic RHI there are 2 routes to
complying with the sustainability criteria:
A) Sourcing woodfuel from the Biomass Suppliers
List
To access the Biomass Suppliers List, click here.
Please note that whilst BSL membership indicates that your fuel
supplier complies with the sustainability criteria for the
RHI it is not a mark of fuel quality. For
information on woodfuel quality accreditation schemes, click
here.
B) Self reporting to Ofgem
For the Domestic RHI, all woodfuel used
from the date the sustainability criteria come into effect must be
sourced from a supplier registered on the Biomass Suppliers List at
that time.
To access the BSL Consumer Question and Answers Document,
click here.
Supplier
information:
A supplier must provide a Greenhouse Gas
Calculation and prove that their fuel is legal and
sustainable to be approved for the Biomass Suppliers List.
To complete your Green House Gas Calculation there is a tool
provided by Ofgem, to access click
here.
Suppliers listed on the Biomass Suppliers List, including self
suppliers, will need to test and record the moisture content of
their fuel and provide information on their method for testing
fuel. The Biomass Energy Centre has published guidance on testing
moisture content,
click here to access the document.
To prove that your timber is legal and sustainable, the
requirements for woodfuel will be based on the UK government Timber
Procurement Policy (UKTPP), established by The Central Point of
Expertise on Timber (CPET) . Currently there are two types of
evidence that can be given:
1) Independent Certification
Approved forest certification schemes include FSC and PEFC
(including SFI).
CPET have also stated that DECC is currently considering whether
biomass certification schemes may be assessed, to see if they could
also be used to demonstrate Category A evidence.
2) All other credible documentary evidence
The Biomass Suppliers List (BSL) has published specific
guidance documents on how to comply with the land criteria for
fuels on the BSL,
click here to access the 4 relevant documents.
To access the BSL and to view the Applications and
Audit Guidance document, click
here. To register for the BSL click
here.
Please note that Self Suppliers are exempt from the provision of
evidence against the Land Criteria, as are suppliers who source
their raw material from 100% waste. However, if audited self
suppliers will need to provide information to evidence their
ability to self supply and this could take the form of a Forestry
Commission Scotland approved Woodland Management Plan.
Further information:
For answers to questions asked at recent RHI sustainability
criteria workshops, click
here and here.
To access the guidance documents for the provision of evidence
for the RHI Sustainability Criteria, click
here.
For advice on the procurement of timber and timber
products, forest certification schemes and other forms of
evidence of sustainability (Category B evidence) see
the
Central Point of Expertise on Timber Procurement (CPET)
documents, especially the CPET guidance for the
growers of timber in the UK, click here to access.
For further guidance on the Biomass Suppliers List, click
here.
For guidance on Applications and Audit for the BSL, click
here.
For suppliers FAQ click here.
For consumer FAQ click here.
Woodsure are the organisation who administer the Biomass
Suppliers List, click here to
access their details.
For an information leaflet about the overall sustainability
requirements,
click here
For information on how the sustainability criteria impact on
domestic RHI participants
click here:
A Biomass Suppliers List workshop was held in
June 2014, to see the presentations
click here.
For further information on biomass sustainability
requirements, click
here