Biomass from offcuts from commercial plantations, including recycled orchards and vineyards, and cleared invasive, alien vegetation from river rehabilitation projects can be used as an alternative, clean heating solution, says biomass harvesting company African Biomass Company (ABC) founding partner and MD Willem van der Merwe.

He notes that there are 150 000 t/y of unwanted invasive alien trees available in the Western Cape alone.

It is further estimated that the sustainable biomass resource in the Eastern Cape and KwaZulu-Natal far exceeds that of the Western Cape. The data is derived from surveys carried out by ABC and NRGen Advisors and audited by the Council for Scientific and Industrial Research.

“Two common forms of biomass are fuel-specified wood chips and high-grade wood pellets. Depending on location and order quantities, the cost per unit of energy from wood chips is lower than that of coal, paraffin, diesel, liquefied petroleum gas and electricity.”

Sustainably sourced biomass is not only carbon-neutral and a much cleaner-burning fuel than fossil fuels, but there are significant environmental benefits as well, Van der Merwe adds.

“The real story behind biomass is not just about sourcing clean fuel for large-scale commercial heating. It is about regenerating original ecosystems, especially water.

For every hectare of alien vegetation rehabilitated to natural vegetation, an additional 2.5-million litres a year of water are released back into river catchment systems,” he notes.

“In 2017, we removed enough invasive Eucalyptus trees from the Breede and Berg river riparian systems to restore the same amount of water as is used by around 45 000 households in a year.”

ABC has a joint venture with sustainably-sourced pine wood pellets company Calore Sustainable Energy (CSE) under the Pellet Power brand and supplies CSE clients through long-term fuel supply contracts.

Both companies operate within independent power producer Earth & Wire's (E&W's) portfolio of large-scale, independent renewable energy project developments.

“Responsibly-sourced biomass is a green, infinitely renewable and cost-effective fuel that can be combusted to generate heat for a multitude of applications from agroprocessing, manufacturing or drying processes, district heating, animal husbandry, water heating for commercial and residential buildings or any process requiring heat,” says E&W business development head Thomas Garner.

“Further, biomass heating solutions are relatively quick to install, the fuel is abundantly available and extremely effective at achieving environmentally responsible objectives.”

In the northern hemisphere, biomass is commonly used as an alternative, clean heating solution. However, in South Africa, biomass is relatively unknown owing to perceptions around the availability of the fuel and the entrenched use of fossil fuels like gas or coal, says Van der Merwe.

“In a country not only dealing with an energy crisis, but struggling with a serious water shortage, biomass offers quick, efficient solutions to effectively address both,” he says.