Advice on best practice on the production and use of biomass fuels is available from a number of sources

Biomass heating

Three guides from the Biomass Energy Centre on biomass heating. These were prepared on behalf of the Biomass Energy Centre by an industry expert to provide some greater detail on some of the key issues to consider when designing a biomass heating system

• Biomass Heating: a guide to small log and wood pellet systems

First in a series of three technical design guides from the Biomass Energy Centre. This guide covers small scale systems suitable for a domestic house or similar sized projects(PDF – 4.0 MB)

• Biomass Heating: a guide to medium scale wood chip and wood pellet systems

Second in a series of a series of three technical design guides from the Biomass Energy Centre. This guide covers larger scale systems(PDF – 5.0 MB)
N.B. Erratum: In Figure 19, Page 16 of this guide, pumps are shown on the heating circuit on the return lines to the low loss header. These should be shown on the flow lines, not the return lines. Please download the corrected version of this Figure using the link below:

• Corrected low loss header diagram for guide to medium scale wood chip and pellet systems

Erratum for Biomass heating: A guide to medium scale wood chip and pellet systems. A corrected version of Figure 19 (page 16) showing the low loss header (PDF – 36 kB)

• Biomass Heating: a guide to feasibility studies

Third in a series of three technical design guides from the Biomass Energy Centre. Gives guidance on how to assess the suitability of a site for biomass heating(PDF – 3.9 MB)

• CIBSE Biomass Heating Application Manual

A detailed, authoritative guide to biomass heating from CIBSE, available as a free download to both members and non-members. Requires registration on the CIBSE website. (PDF – 13 MB)

• Biomass heating: a practical guide for potential users

A detailed and practical guide from the Carbon Trust on using biomass. It is intended to provide practical guidance to businesses and public sector organisations considering using biomass as an alternative source of heating for space, hot water and/or process heat. The guide focuses on existing, conventional biomass combustion equipment, in the 100kWth-3MWth size range, that use solid fuels such as wood chips, pelletised biomass fuels and straw(PDF – 1.9 MB)