European technical standards governing the production of solid biomass fuels, including woodfuels such as logs, pellets, chips and sawdust, and straw bales, are now available for download from the UK's Biomass Energy Centre website.

The 25 standards, supported by Defra and the Forestry Commission, are officially known as the CEN/TC 335 Biomass Standards and have been adopted in the UK by BSI British Standards. They cover topics including methods for determining moisture content and calorific value, fuel quality assurance, and total content of carbon, hydrogen and nitrogen.

Publishing the standards fulfils a commitment in the Government's UK Biomass Strategy, published by Defra in 2007. The Biomass Energy Centre will now follow up the standards' publication over the next few months by producing a suite of guides to implementing the standards for use by the people who produce the fuels.

Andy Hall, from the Biomass Energy Centre, welcomed the new standards, saying,

"Using biomass fuels can contribute to efforts to tackle climate change. These standards provide essential guidance to people at the forefront of the UK's rapidly expanding biomass industries.

"They provide vital guidance on topics such as achieving product quality and will, for example, be useful in helping to resolve disputes over matters such as chip size and moisture content."

The Standards were published with the support of Defra and the Forestry Commission. They can be downloaded free of charge from the Biomass Energy Centre website, www.biomassenergycentre.org.uk, by following the "CEN/TC 335 Standards" link in the bottom right-hand corner of the home page.

Priced hard copies can be obtained from www.bsigroup.com/shop. Prices vary depending on the particular standard being ordered.

Further information is available from the Biomass Energy Centre: e-mail: biomass.centre@forestry.gsi.gov.uk; tel: 01420 526197.

NOTES TO EDITOR:

1. CEN is the European Committee for Standardization, and CEN/TC 335 is the technical committee responsible for developing the draft standard to describe all forms of solid biofuels within Europe, including wood chips, wood pellets and briquettes, logs, sawdust and straw bales. This activity is mirrored in the UK by BSI technical committee PTI/17.
2. The Biomass Energy Centre is an on-line, "one-stop-shop" resource that provides information and advice on all aspects of producing, processing, transporting and using biomass fuels of all types in the United Kingdom. It is hosted by the Forestry Commission's Forest Research agency.
3. Biomass fuels are fuels from a biological source, mostly originating from plants. Because they can be constantly replenished by growing replacement crops that reabsorb the carbon emitted by burning previous crops, they can be " carbon lean", and are therefore increasing in importance as a tool for tackling climate change.

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