PRESS RELEASE

BAA STANSTED APPOINTS LC ENERGY FOR WOOD CHIP SUPPLY

LC Energy, one of the UK’s leading suppliers of low carbon energy services and wood fuel, has won a five year contract to supply BAA’s Stansted Airport with 3,000 tonnes of sustainable wood chip a year for its newly installed wood fuel heating boiler which has formed a key part of a £50 million extension to the existing terminal building.

BAA Stansted is one of the first airports in the world to have its primary heat source provided by wood fuel and the new extension is carbon neutral¹.

The wood chip being supplied could save approximately 1,750 tonnes² of carbon per year (when compared to burning fossil fuels) which is the equivalent output of over 400 family homes.

The wood for the boiler will be sourced from sustainably managed woodlands in the region, mainly situated within a 20 mile radius of the airport terminal. Once it has been harvested the wood is chipped and stored at LC Energy’s hub situated less than two miles from the airport, which significantly reduces the environmental impact of transportingthe chip long distances to the boiler.

Dr. Andy Jefferson, BAA’s Stansted Head of Environment, said: “LC Energy has clearly demonstrated an in-depth knowledge of the expanding low carbon energy sector and has put forward a highly cost effective package to enable BAA Stansted to utilise this natural heat resource from the East of England.”

He continued, “The wood chip fuelled boiler was originally installed to provide heat for the new extension to the terminal, but has proved so effective that the entire airport terminal is now being heated by the boiler. As a result, we have been able to significantly reduce our reliance on the old natural gas boilers.”

Mark Lebus, Managing Director of LC Energy said, “This is a highly significant contract for LC Energy as it demonstrates that woodchip fuel boilers are a genuinely viable alternative energy source for organisations wishing to not only reduce their carbon footprint, but also lessen their reliance on ever-decreasing fossil fuels.”

He continued, “It is essential that the wood fuel is sourced from the immediate area as it capitalises on local wood to provide local heat, and enables a significant reduction in transport emissions.”

According to the Forestry Commission it is estimated that if harvested responsibly, there could be a sustainable supply of wood chip from woodlands in the immediate vicinity of the airport sufficient to supply the Stansted boiler.

Dr Mike Render, Regional Development Advisor for the Forestry Commission, welcomes the decision by BAA to utilise wood to provide heat for the airport and said “The Forestry Commission would wish to encourage a greater use of wood for fuel heat production and in the East of England Region we have a target to supply a sustainable additional 110,000 tonnes per year by 2013.

Now in its third year of trading, LC Energy supplies wood fuel to a number of schools, care homes, housing developments and private customers in the South and East of England including a recent supply contract with Flitch Green primary school in Essex.

For further information please contact enquiries@lcenergy.co.uk

¹ Biomass takes carbon out of the atmosphere while it is growing, and returns it as it is burned.  If it is managed on a sustainable basis, biomass is harvested as part of a constantly replenished crop. This is either during woodland or arboricultural management or coppicing or as part of a continuous programme of replanting with the new growth taking up CO2 from the atmosphere at the same time as it is released by combustion of the previous harvest. This maintains a closed carbon cycle with no net increase in atmospheric CO2 levels.

² The figure of 1,750 tonnes of CO2 being saved is based on the Stansted’s current Mega Watt Hour (MWh) heat usage. Stansted currently uses 9,500 MWh per year. Natural gas has a CO2 emission of 185kg per MWh.

Hence 185 x 9,500 = 1,757,500kg or 1,750 tonnes per year. Therefore by using a heat fuel which is carbon neutral,

Stansted is saving 1,750 tonnes of CO2 per year.