Graham wrote:I walked past a house with a pallet-full of firewood, sitting a the end of the drive ( sort of shrink-wrapped in plastic). The owner merrily exclaimed that it was from Poland and cheaper than buying firewood locally.
. . . A double whammy ! . . . This is madness.
...but if it's trucked in in great quantities (as opposed to being split, packaged & sold in £5 ickle bags), then perhaps that changes the environmental economies.
Graham wrote:I walked past a house with a pallet-full of firewood, sitting a the end of the drive ( sort of shrink-wrapped in plastic). The owner merrily exclaimed that it was from Poland and cheaper than buying firewood locally.
. . . A double whammy ! . . . This is madness.
...but if it's trucked in in great quantities (as opposed to being split, packaged & sold in £5 ickle bags), then perhaps that changes the environmental economies.
Nobody's yet discussed kiln drying...
From my point of view a waste of energy. Sun and wind would do a better job, given time.
Graham wrote:I walked past a house with a pallet-full of firewood, sitting a the end of the drive ( sort of shrink-wrapped in plastic). The owner merrily exclaimed that it was from Poland and cheaper than buying firewood locally.
. . . A double whammy ! . . . This is madness.
Not just firewood. Some years ago, a chap I knew who worked as a volunteer on the Bluebell Railway, told me that they had to import coal for their steam locomotives from Poland, because the right sort of "steam coal" isn't available from British mines any more.
I'd imagine that other heritage railways around the country face the same problem.
But not all. The narrow-gauge Ffestiniog Railway fuels their steam locomotives with spent mineral oil, I believe. I don't know where it's sourced from - nor how pollution-friendly that sort of fuel is.
Suppose that this room is a lift. The support breaks and down we go with ever-increasing velocity. Let us pass the time by performing physical experiments... --- Arthur Eddington (creator of the Eddington Number).
Pollution friendly? It stinks! 'Orrible black smoke.
I have often wondered why the Ffest. Rwy doesn't use at least some wood from along it's wooded trackside (clearance being necessary) . It would (no pun intended!) be a great selling point and smell a deal nicer.
However I am reliably informed that the loco boilers are wrong for wood as a fuel. Though I do not know the technicalities of it.
PDQ Mobile wrote:Pollution friendly? It stinks! 'Orrible black smoke.
OK, I left out the syllable "un-". We've been on the Ffestiniog just once - nice scenic trip but maybe the 'atmosphere' wasn't quite right.... But then steam trains running on coal - for all their nostalgic appeal nowadays - didn't do much for the environment either. They were a significant factor in the great 1952 smog which killed 4000 in London - and left many more to die soon after.
Suppose that this room is a lift. The support breaks and down we go with ever-increasing velocity. Let us pass the time by performing physical experiments... --- Arthur Eddington (creator of the Eddington Number).
Graham wrote:I walked past a house with a pallet-full of firewood, sitting a the end of the drive ( sort of shrink-wrapped in plastic). The owner merrily exclaimed that it was from Poland and cheaper than buying firewood locally.
. . . A double whammy ! . . . This is madness.
...but if it's trucked in in great quantities (as opposed to being split, packaged & sold in £5 ickle bags), then perhaps that changes the environmental economies.
Beyond labour costs and a huge natural resource there are other reasons why fuel from Poland may be cheap.
Without paying for restocking woodland management gets a lot less costly. Its an odd thing that during the communist era the forestry policies or techniques of some of the countries behind the iron curtain were seen as noteworthy, shame it's not so now. (Should say of course they made some huge ecological or environmental blunders too).
Natural woodland doesn't need restocking. The seeds are already in the ground. Felling the mature trees lets the light in and the replacements sprout. I see that happen in my area where conifers are felled. Young trees are growing there in no time without anyone planting them.
pwa wrote:Natural woodland doesn't need restocking. The seeds are already in the ground. Felling the mature trees lets the light in and the replacements sprout. I see that happen in my area where conifers are felled. Young trees are growing there in no time without anyone planting them.
The clue being 'natural woodland'. And there isn't a lot of it about. Conifers can regenerate well (though not from seeds already in the ground - usually from retained seed trees if the regime is continuous cover).
It's a long time ago but from college days l seem to remember that Pinus seeds deteriorate quickly and would not be viable after three years in the ground but usually last nothing like that long. Some plant species do have strong seed coatings and can be viable for up to 15 years.
Graham wrote:I walked past a house with a pallet-full of firewood, sitting a the end of the drive ( sort of shrink-wrapped in plastic). The owner merrily exclaimed that it was from Poland and cheaper than buying firewood locally.
. . . A double whammy ! . . . This is madness.
...but if it's trucked in in great quantities (as opposed to being split, packaged & sold in £5 ickle bags), then perhaps that changes the environmental economies.
Beyond labour costs and a huge natural resource there are other reasons why fuel from Poland may be cheap.
Without paying for restocking woodland management gets a lot less costly. Its an odd thing that during the communist era the forestry policies or techniques of some of the countries behind the iron curtain were seen as noteworthy, shame it's not so now. (Should say of course they made some huge ecological or environmental blunders too).
That's only just been enacted, so won't have affected the price yet, I wouldn't have thought.
pwa wrote:Natural woodland doesn't need restocking. The seeds are already in the ground. Felling the mature trees lets the light in and the replacements sprout. I see that happen in my area where conifers are felled. Young trees are growing there in no time without anyone planting them.
The clue being 'natural woodland'. And there isn't a lot of it about. Conifers can regenerate well (though not from seeds already in the ground - usually from retained seed trees if the regime is continuous cover).
It's a long time ago but from college days l seem to remember that Pinus seeds deteriorate quickly and would not be viable after three years in the ground but usually last nothing like that long. Some plant species do have strong seed coatings and can be viable for up to 15 years.
Bonefishblues wrote:Conifers are no use for burning - too much resin.
That is not correct. Most conifers make fine fuel wood. The resin content can be high and that requires a deal of oxygen to burn without fume but with sufficient oxygen the heat output of such resin is enormous. Burns quite fast but very hot.
The relative moisture content of conifers is high though, it is a lot of water (at least half it weight),and therefore badly seasoned it burns quite poorly. Get it dry and it is wonderful. It forms at least 70% of my fuel.
Bonefishblues wrote:Conifers are no use for burning - too much resin.
Half of Europe uses softwood for burning - in terms of calorific value most softwood is about 70% of that of most hardwoods; but it's still a good product.
There's a bit of hardwood snobbery about, probably mainly because vendors always promote 'seasoned hardwood'.
Bonefishblues wrote:Conifers are no use for burning - too much resin.
That is not correct. Most conifers make fine fuel wood. The resin content can be high and that requires a deal of oxygen to burn without fume but with sufficient oxygen the heat output of such resin is enormous. Burns quite fast but very hot.
The relative moisture content of conifers is high though, it is a lot of water (at least half it weight),and therefore badly seasoned it burns quite poorly. Get it dry and it is wonderful. It forms at least 70% of my fuel.
It's 100% of what I'm burning at the moment and it is much better than I had expected. It is very dry, which must help, but it makes a very hot fire and logs don't need topping up much quicker than they did when my main wood fuel was stuff like hazel. I must be honest and say I've not had the chimney sweep out since using this fuel so I will report back if there are issues, but staining of the glass is no different to when burning dry hardwood. You get a bit when the fire is dying down but it rapidly burns away with the next fire.
PDQ Mobile wrote:Pollution friendly? It stinks! 'Orrible black smoke.
I have often wondered why the Ffest. Rwy doesn't use at least some wood from along it's wooded trackside (clearance being necessary) . It would (no pun intended!) be a great selling point and smell a deal nicer.
However I am reliably informed that the loco boilers are wrong for wood as a fuel. Though I do not know the technicalities of it.
Coal or wood firing creates sparks, unfortunately there are lots of trees beside the line, oil firing is 'safer' Is "Festiniog" (one F) still right?
Entertainer, juvenile, curmudgeon, PoB, 30120 Cycling-of course, but it is far better on a Gillott We love safety cameras, we hate bullies
Bonefishblues wrote:Conifers are no use for burning - too much resin.
Half of Europe uses softwood for burning - in terms of calorific value most softwood is about 70% of that of most hardwoods; but it's still a good product.
There's a bit of hardwood snobbery about, probably mainly because vendors always promote 'seasoned hardwood'.
The best quality, even for burning, -1 Surely there is plenty of waste wood, pallets, wood from demolished buildings, offcuts
Entertainer, juvenile, curmudgeon, PoB, 30120 Cycling-of course, but it is far better on a Gillott We love safety cameras, we hate bullies
