The T2 Energy Centre is a biomass-fuelled combined heating and power (CHP) station at Heathrow Airport in

London London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...

which opened in December 2012. It provides heat to half of the active terminals: Terminal 2 and Terminal 5 and electricity into the local grid, similar to some of the airport's operations demands.

Operation

The energy centre, which has a CHP base heating load of 9 MW (thermal) and a biomass CHP power output of 1.8 MW (electric), took its first delivery of woodchip fuel in November 2012. The Energy Centre uses 25,000 tonnes of woodchips a year, which is sourced within a 100-mile radius of Heathrow airport from sustainable woodlands such as the

WWT London Wetland Centre WWT London Wetland Centre is a wetland reserve managed by the Wildfowl and Wetlands Trust in the Barnes area of the London Borough of Richmond upon Thames, southwest London, England, by Barn Elms. The site is formed of four disused Victorian re ...

Barnes, London Barnes () is a district in south London, part of the London Borough of Richmond upon Thames, England. It takes up the extreme north-east of the borough, and as such is the closest part of the borough to central London. It is centred west south ...

and

Richmond Park Richmond Park, in the London Borough of Richmond upon Thames, is the largest of London's Royal Parks, and is of national and international importance for wildlife conservation. It was created by Charles I in the 17th century as a deer park ...

which ensures low haulage requirements, costs and CO emissions. The resulting ash is recycled and used to make

fertiliser A fertilizer (American English) or fertiliser (British English; see spelling differences) is any material of natural or synthetic origin that is applied to soil or to plant tissues to supply plant nutrients. Fertilizers may be distinct from ...

for local

agriculture Agriculture or farming is the practice of cultivating plants and livestock. Agriculture was the key development in the rise of sedentary human civilization, whereby farming of domesticated species created food surpluses that enabled people t ...

and

manufacturing Manufacturing is the creation or production of goods with the help of equipment, labor, machines, tools, and chemical or biological processing or formulation. It is the essence of secondary sector of the economy. The term may refer to ...

, eliminating the need to send the ash to landfill. Heathrow claims that the wood fuel process will enable it to save at least 13,000 tonnes of CO emissions per year, compared with producing the same output from natural gas, and to reduce its carbon footprint by 34 per cent by 2020. The electricity generated is fed into the local grid.

Award

In September 2012, the

Chartered Institute of Purchasing & Supply The Chartered Institute of Procurement & Supply (CIPS), formerly the Chartered Institute of Purchasing & Supply, is a global professional body working for the procurement and supply profession in many regions of the world. It promotes best prac ...

awarded Heathrow Airport Limited for 'Best Contribution to Corporate Responsibility' with regard to the energy plant.

References

External links

Sustainability case study at the new Terminal 2
{{Use dmy dates, date=December 2012 Buildings and structures at Heathrow Airport Biofuel power stations in England