How will Climate Change affect our woodlands?


 
woodland with bluebells climate change woodfuel coop

Climate Change. Floods block roads and seemingly endless days of rain disrupt our lives. It’s easy to overlook how extreme weather events could change our countryside forever.

Because trees grow slowly we tend to imagine that our local forests and woodlands are going to stay the same forever. Often we get a surprise at how much everything has shot up when we revisit a wood after a lapse of time. But in fact woodlands have been in a constant state of change for many thousands of years. With trees reaching maturity, falling down and being replaced by seedlings. Spread by animals, birds and the wind, they use the extra light to race towards the sunlight and become established.

No-one really knows how climate change and global warming will affect Scotland in the long term. In 2008 it was thought that drier summers and wetter, milder winters were likely. The following winters and the last two summers seem to have knocked that theory back. In the southern half of Scotland anyway. The behaviour of the jet stream is critical, it seems, in determining rainfall and temperatures. Though a much longer time period would be needed to discern reliable patterns.

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Quick guide to choosing the best Wood Fuel for your stove and lifestyle.

Wood Fuel Co-operative
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*Break - We strongly recommend you break these briquettes in half (or less for very small stoves) because they do expand whilst burning and you don't want them to overfill the fire.
*Easy to light - We always use a Firelighter and Kindling Sticks to start our fires. Most briquettes are graded four stars to light because they are quite dense and require kindling.

Notes:

  • All stove and flue combinations tend to have different burning characteristics. Fuel that works well in my stove may not work so well in your stove, and vice-versa.
  • Most modern stoves are more efficient than most older stoves, meaning a modern quality stove will burn fuel more economically and generate more heat over a longer period.
  • Always try to burn fuel with a 'lick of flame'. Smouldering fuel to try to extend burn time is bad for your stove, flue and the environment due to unburned particulate matter in the smoke.
  • Be prepared to break briquettes into smaller sections to fit into your stove comfortably. Many briquettes do expand whilst burning and you don't want them to expand onto the glass.
  • The chart above indicates which briquettes are easy to break. Some are small enough so they don't need breaking. This makes for a cleaner environment around your stove.
  • All briquettes, except Everyday Value and Hotmax, benefit hugely from using kindling to light them. I suggest five kindling sticks will be sufficient, meaning a net should last 30 days.