On my way into Scotney Castle, a magnificent National Trust property in Kent in south-east England, I was rather horrified to see that a large number of what looked like healthy mature trees at the side of the drive had recently been felled. However, when I met Ross Wingfield, the estate warden, he explained that they were sweet chestnut coppices that were normally cut down every few years but these had been left at the request of the castle's previous owner. They were now being brought back into use again, with a large part of the wood produced being used in the form of woodchip as a renewable energy source to fuel a recently installed biomass boiler. He said: "Within a few years we intend to be totally self-sufficient in the supply of woodchip for the boiler.
展开▼
