Maintaining the carbon cycle of wood-based products
36 Year Willow Coppice
Put simply, our products utilise the part of a tree (sawmill residues and pulpwood) that is not usable for construction lumber and for this reason helps to reduce carbon emissions and maintain the entire life carbon cycle of wood-based products.
Natural forestry producing clean virgin wood
Willow is a Short Rotation Coppice (SRC) perennial crop; once harvested, the crop is regrown providing 36 years of continuous crop production without the need for annual ploughing, re-seeding, or re-planting. Instead, it is simply re-harvested every two years and the cycle continues.
Willow pulp, sawmill residues & pulpwood
Using wood manufacturing by-products and end of life wood products as a source of energy is the final link in the virtuous wood cycle. Instead of the energy being wasted in landfill or forest brash allowed to rot on the forest floor, it provides a carbon neutral substitute for fossil fuels.
Drying WillowWarm with our biomass burner powered sustainably by using biomass
Since wood combustion returns to the atmosphere, the CO2 that has been taken from it by the growing of trees does not contribute to global warming or the greenhouse effect.
Leaving the production line now less 7-9% moisture
Our products are free from contaminants and are not made of recycled wood.
Essentially, wood produces little ash and wood energy is clean!
WillowWarm keeping your home warm
The carbon dioxide (CO2) produced during the burning of our finished products is completely offset during the growing stage by the crops themselves, as they take CO2 from the air through photosynthesis. In essence, the more willow that is planted, the more CO2 is removed from the atmosphere, creating a cleaner environment.
Utilising Irish Forestry for a better future.
How are we using forestry to complete the carbon cycle and help Ireland reach net zero emissions?
One hectare of willow produces approximately 13 tonnes of willow every year with an energy content of 13.2 Gigajoules (GJ) per tonne. Therefore, one hectare produces 172 GJ of energy per year. Assuming that 1,000 litres of home heating oil has an energy content of 38 GJ, then one hectare of willow has the same energy content as 4,500 litres of home heating oil. (Source: Teagasc)
