People with an interest in the developing woodfuel industry are invited to register for an important international conference and workshop entitled ‘The Woodfuel Supply Chain – Sharing Experience’, in Warwick, England in September this year.

It is being jointly organised by the Biomass Energy Centre and IEA Bioenergy to share experience and knowledge among practitioners and stakeholders across the industry and from around the world. It will include workshop technical sessions, field trips and an “industry day” at the APF International Machinery Exhibition at Cannock Chase, Staffordshire, where the woodfuel industry is expected to have a significant presence. The venue is the University of Warwick, near Coventry, with accommodation available on site, and the dates are Monday 15 to Friday 19 September, with an icebreaker event on the evening of Sunday 14 September.

Speakers will include Sir Ben Gill, a leading spokesperson for the bioenergy sector in the UK. The first two days will comprise a field study tour to sites including Eccleshall power station and an excursion day around Ironbridge. The third and fourth days will consist of a combination of plenary sessions and parallel workshops looking at topics including biomass woodfuel supply and trade, site productivity and environment, social and community issues, regional supply chains, technology and logistics for forest biomass production, greenhouse gas balances and mitigation, sustainability criteria and certification, and economics and supply modelling.

On Friday 19 September delegates will be invited to visit the APF, where they will be able to participate in two further workshops with invited expert panels. The morning session, looking at supply chains, will be chaired by Tim Rollinson, Director-General of the Forestry Commission, and the afternoon one, focusing on fuel quality, will be chaired by Angela Duignan, head of woodfuel implementation for Forestry Commission England.