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As energy prices continue to rise, it would be a good idea if neighbours or communities could club together to buy or import large quantities of firewood.

I have read that a good chunk of our firewood is imported.

Anyone got any suggestions of where it could be imported from or any importers?

Another good reason is it could be a good investment from an inflation point of view.

Any ideas?

Imported? Really? There's plans for DRAX to burn wood imported from Canada but all the local domestic firewood suppliers I know of get the wood locally - and that's Lincolnshire where we have more barley than woodland.

biffvernon wrote:but all the local domestic firewood suppliers I know of get the wood locally

Probably not. I have not got the numbers but a large proportion of our wood is imported. It may be a good idea to get one large delivery to a central point and distribute locally.
Also, the little man can compete with DRAX for wood if he space heats, boils water and cooks with the wood.

Isn't importing firewood a problem in the same way as the discussion going on about importing gas? We're on the end of the "pipeline" and it could easily be diverted when another buyer comes along.

I assume there are no disease risks with importing ash, but there could be all sorts of creepy crawlies in any imported wood, that aren't native here.

stevecook172001 wrote:http://www.alibaba.com/product-free/126 ... ewood.html

A bit depressing.

It's not particularly cheap at around 40 Euro per cubic metre. That's something like £70 per tonne, the price I paid for my last lorry load of sawn oak offcuts. Just cheap enough for someone to repack into small bags and sell at a profit.

It adds value to Latvian woodland which might, perhaps, give an incentive for sustainable management but that may not include ash monoculture.

This sort of trade in biological material would never be allowed in Australasia, where biosecurity is taken seriously. All sorts of unknowns could hitch a ride, though ash die back, Chalera, is not an issue here as it is spread by spores produced from tiny mushrooms growing on old leaf-stalks.

JohnB wrote:Isn't importing firewood a problem in the same way as the discussion going on about importing gas? We're on the end of the "pipeline" and it could easily be diverted when another buyer comes along.

I assume there are no disease risks with importing ash, but there could be all sorts of creepy crawlies in any imported wood, that aren't native here.

It would be better to produce firewood within our country rather than import it.
As you point out, imported firewood is vulnerable to supply interuptions and sudden price rises , as with natural gas.
Also the transporting of the wood is almost certainly reliant on oil.
Firewood does however have the merit that the end user may stockpile it against shortages, unlike gas.
There is also the possibility of importing firewood as a short term measure whilst waiting for domestic production to increase, rather than being reliant on imports forever.
There is very considerable potential to grow more trees in the UK for both building timber and for fire wood, this will take some years.
By contrast, any significant increase in natural gas production within the UK seems unlikely.

stevecook172001 wrote:http://www.alibaba.com/product-free/126 ... ewood.html

Thanks.

But most people in the UK live either urban or suburban and have no access to land to plant trees. They are reliant on local supplies, which will not be enough when most people logically turn to wood fuel (3 uses)

So who imports the canadian wood, how much per ton?

This is one area the little man can win against the corps.

stumuzz wrote:But most people in the UK live either urban or suburban and have no access to land to plant trees. They are reliant on local supplies, which will not be enough when most people logically turn to wood fuel (3 uses)

So who imports the canadian wood, how much per ton?

This is one area the little man can win against the corps.

I've looked into this. You need to stick to a European supplier. The import duties on firewood from outside Europe make it completely economically untenable.

stumuzz wrote:...when most people logically turn to wood fuel (3 uses).

Logically? Why are we assuming wood is more logical then gas, coal, oil, electricity etc... Wood is no more abundant than the others, in fact I'd suggest it's a lot less abundant.

The only truly logical thing to do is to insulate well enough so that heating requirements are minimal - then use whatever fuel source you can access.

clv101 wrote:

stumuzz wrote:...when most people logically turn to wood fuel (3 uses).

Logically? Why are we assuming wood is more logical then gas, coal, oil, electricity etc... Wood is no more abundant than the others, in fact I'd suggest it's a lot less abundant.

The only truly logical thing to do is to insulate well enough so that heating requirements are minimal - then use whatever fuel source you can access.

I think what he is getting at is that wood, particularly local wood, is more logical if you have a secure supply because it is renewable. With hydrocarbons, particularly hydrocarbons coming from overseas, there will at some point be no such thing as a secure supply. Secondly, be it local or imported, wood can be stored indefinitely by someone with virtually zero technology required. The same cannot be said of hydrocarbons.

All of the above is the case independent of any measures that are taken with regards to insulation. Looking for ways to be fuel-secure and insulating well are not mutually exclusive strategies.

clv101 wrote:

stumuzz wrote:...when most people logically turn to wood fuel (3 uses).

Logically? Why are we assuming wood is more logical then gas, coal, oil, electricity etc... Wood is no more abundant than the others, in fact I'd suggest it's a lot less abundant.

The only truly logical thing to do is to insulate well enough so that heating requirements are minimal - then use whatever fuel source you can access.

First step logical. When most of us on PS discovered PO, the first thing we did was to find a heat source that was not reliant on the grid ( most boilers do not fit the bill) second as Steve has pointed out, wood can be sourced by a person, it does not need infrastructure to supply. Third, if you can use the heat to wash and cook all the better.

There are no easily accessible appliances on the market that can do all three with gas or oil and be independent from the grid.

Woodstoves are the logical choice.

I don't think importing Ash wood is a good idea under present circs. Probably even planting new Ash trees should wait...til we find and deploy stock from the few-percent of our present Ash trees who, apparently, have some kind of immunity to Ash Dieback.

Interesting idea.

From reading arbtalk cheapest way to buy firewood is by the arctic lorry load which holds 40 tonnes approx depended on wood type etc.

http://arbtalk.co.uk/forum/firewood-forum/

Thats the way the firewood merchants buy it too process & resell.

Comes in 2m lengths of cordwood.

Maybe somone there can give you a price