The T2 Energy Centre is a

biomass Biomass is a term used in several contexts: in the context of ecology it means living organisms, and in the context of bioenergy it means matter from recently living (but now dead) organisms. In the latter context, there are variations in how ...

-fuelled combined heating and power (CHP) station at

Heathrow Airport Heathrow Airport , also colloquially known as London Heathrow Airport and named ''London Airport'' until 1966, is the primary and largest international airport serving London, the capital and most populous city of England and the United Kingdo ...

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

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 Woodchip may refer to: * Woodchips, a medium-sized solid material ** Woodchipper A tree chipper or woodchipper is a machine used for reducing wood (generally tree limbs or trunks) into smaller woodchips. They are often portable, being moun ...

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 Sustainability is a social goal for people to co-exist on Earth over a long period of time. Definitions of this term are disputed and have varied with literature, context, and time. Sustainability usually has three dimensions (or pillars): env ...

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 res ...

Barnes, London Barnes () is a district in South West London, England, part of the London Borough of Richmond upon Thames. 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 ...

and

Richmond Park Richmond Park, in the London Borough of Richmond upon Thames, is the largest of Royal Parks of London, London's Royal Parks and is of national and international importance for wildlife conservation. It was created by Charles I of England, Cha ...

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

fertiliser A fertilizer or fertiliser is any material of natural or synthetic origin that is applied to soil or to plant tissues to supply plant nutrition, plant nutrients. Fertilizers may be distinct from Liming (soil), liming materials or other non- ...

for local

agriculture Agriculture encompasses crop and livestock production, aquaculture, and forestry for food and non-food products. Agriculture was a key factor in the rise of sedentary human civilization, whereby farming of domesticated species created ...

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 the secondary sector of the economy. The term may refer ...

, eliminating the need to send the ash to

landfill A landfill is a site for the disposal of waste materials. It is the oldest and most common form of waste disposal, although the systematic burial of waste with daily, intermediate and final covers only began in the 1940s. In the past, waste was ...

. 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 A carbon footprint (or greenhouse gas footprint) is a calculated value or index that makes it possible to compare the total amount of greenhouse gases that an activity, product, company or country Greenhouse gas emissions, adds to the atmospher ...

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 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
{{Coord, 51.459423, -0.459365, type:landmark_region:GB-HIL_scale:50000, display=title Buildings and structures at Heathrow Airport Biofuel power stations in England