Yesterday evening's seminar by Catriona Ross was an excellent look at wood fuel installations in the Cairngorms National Park.  It raised some interesting discussion on wood fuel supply, moisture content and the performance variations of different wood types.  It's all really important when it comes to the overall performance of a biomass boiler of log burning stove and sharing the thoughts of those present was very useful.  I think that for the time being, anyone considering a biomass based heating solution needs to be aware that they need to take a large responsibility for the quality of the fuel they use, until they have developed a good relationship with a trusted supplier.  And there is an important role for training and informing people about the main aspects of woodfuel supply and storage.

The UK Government's spending review announcement has brought welcome clarification to the future of Feed In Tariffs (FITs) and the Renewable Heat Incentive (RHI).

The FIT scheme and the tariff rates will continue in their current form until the proposed review date of 2013.  However, if there is higher than anticipated demand, the Government has allowed themselves the option of making changes prior to this.  There is no indication as to what this demand would have to be, but the result is that installation sooner rather than later will be the best way to guarantee good FIT rates.  The DECC FIT information is here.

The RHI is expected to be implemented in June 2011, a little later than the original proposal of April.  There is also more detail to be announced regarding the tariffs and the technologies that well be supported.  This is good news for the small-scale renewable heat industry and should encourage more people to consider installations.  You can see the latest information from DECC here.

The blog entries on the SEAM Centre website are going to be used to provide general interest and background information on all aspects of micro-renewables and sustainable construction.  We will draw on the thoughts and experiences of a wide variety of people in the Highlands and Islands and further afield and get them to share their knowledge of specific subject areas.  Keep checking back to see the latest posts.