Category: Uncategorised

Woodsure is currently recruiting for a new auditor to cover North Wales, predominately in LL, CH, and CW areas.

The role is for an auditor to be appointed on a sub-contract basis through a Bought in Service Agreement – you must operate your own company but not be conflicted through holding Woodsure or Ready to Burn certification.

Work experience requirements;

• Minimum of three years full time experience in forest based or biomass related industries. (The number of years of total work experience may be reduced if the auditor has completed a relevant qualification in an appropriate forest based or related industry)
• Preferable experience and/or qualification in auditing/quality management systems

Key role Activities;

• Assess a fuel supplier’s operation and competence in producing fuel to the claimed quality
• Audit appropriate documentation and process requirements
• Make a judgement for suitability for inclusion on the register and make recommendations
• Liaise with Woodsure, applicants and existing registrants to agree on appointments and carry out inspection/assessment
• Review Woodsure/Ready to Burn database, supplier search and any documentation provided
• Liaise and respond directly with the fuel supplier (applicant or registrant) to clarify assessment dates
• Make a recommendation for acceptance/rejection as an output to the audit to Woodsure

If you want to apply for the Woodsure Auditor position, please send a cover letter and your CV to hr@hetas.co.uk.

As BSL Administrators we would like to open nominations for a new Advisory Panel. To nominate yourself please follow the link below. The nomination process will close on 12th November. Where we receive multiple nominees for the same category, the BSL registrants will be asked to vote for their preferred candidate.

Advisory Panel purpose

The Panel serves a number of purposes, including:

• Provides strategic advice to the Department for Energy, Security & Net Zero (DESNZ) on the supply of biomass wood fuel through meetings of this Panel; 
• Ensures that all participants within the biomass sector have open and fair access to the BSL; 
• Ensures that fees applied to Suppliers on the BSL are appropriate and kept within reasonable and affordable limits;
• Ensures that scheme administration and any improvements raised reflect user needs; 
• Escalates BSL Advisory Panel concerns to DESNZ; and 
• Develops terms of reference of the annual audit of the BSL Administrator.

The Panel shall consist of up to 18 Members from the following categories:

• Members representing BSL suppliers (self-suppliers, producers, producer-traders, traders)
• Members representing fuel types (pellets, chip, logs, waste wood)
• Members representing raw materials (forestry, waste wood, arboricultural arisings, sawmill residues)
• Members representing industry bodies (forestry, waste wood fuel, wood heating)
• Advisory Panel Non Voting Members (fuel quality certification scheme, government forestry (England), government forestry (Scotland), government forestry (Wales)

Some members may represent multiple categories, depending on their experience and expertise.

Please note: closing date for nominations is Sunday 12th November 2023.

If you would like to be considered to represent industry on the Biomass Suppliers List Advisory Panel, please complete the short survey by clicking ‘Make your nomination’.

The full ‘Terms of Reference’ for the BSL Advisory Panel can be viewed here.

On the 10th August 2023 government published their Biomass Strategy. This strategy sets out the role sustainable biomass can play in reaching net zero, what government is doing to enable that objective, and where further action is needed.

The Biomass Strategy sets out steps government intends to take to strengthen biomass sustainability and the opportunities for the use of sustainable biomass across multiple sectors of the economy in support of achieving the UK’s net zero target.

It builds on the 2021 Biomass policy statement and the Powering up Britain strategy which emphasised the important role that biomass will play in Britain’s fully decarbonised power system by 2035, subject to security of supply.

The Biomass Strategy document can be downloaded from the .gov website.

This is to inform you that the Government have decided to end the suspension of the requirement to use EN Plus A1 pellets – when the 12-month suspension period lapses.  This means that from 23 November 2023, all wood pellets used to claim NDRHI payments must adhere to the requirement to use EN Plus A1 pellets in accordance with the regulations.

When you receive an email from the Biomass Suppliers List (BSL) stating that you have been selected for an audit you may take it in your stride but for many people this email hits a stress button and you wonder why you have been selected and whether you have done something wrong! So, the first thing to understand is we have increased the percentage that is audited on an annual basis so you are now more likely to get one of these emails so there is no victimisation, we are selecting large batches each month to receive an audit.  There is nothing to panic about, take a deep breath, keep calm and read the email carefully. 

There are four main types of audit: 

1. A telephone audit where an auditor will call you and ask you to talk through what you do.  

2. A remote site audit where you will take the auditor for a walk around your production site using a phone app, for example ‘What’s App’ or ‘Teams’  

3. A site audit, where an auditor will visit your depot.  

4. E-audits where you are required to complete and return an online form.  This form is very clever and should adapt to your answers, hopefully asking you only the questions that are relevant to you.  If selected you will receive an email with instructions. 

In all cases you will be asked in advance to gather together some information and send or upload to the e-audit form.  What this is, depends on whether you are a self-supplier, a producer/trader, or a trader. Read through what is needed carefully and if you have any questions respond to the email with them and someone will get back to you with further clarification.  

Following the audit, you may be sent an email to say that everything was fine, but in some cases, you may have some minor or even major non-conformances that need to be corrected. Minor non-conformances are often easily rectified, for example, you may have forgotten to send across a document or if you are a supplier, you may not be including everything that is required on an invoice. With respect to non-conformances there are strict deadlines which you must meet.  If these are not met, your (suspended pending removal) fuels will be removed and if you still want a BSL number for that fuel you will need to make, and pay for, a new application for each fuel. 

Types of Non-conformance 

Immediate non-conformances mean that your application will be removed from BSL within 1 working day. This might be, for example, if you don’t hold any certification for fuel quality (e.g. Woodsure if you have virgin raw materials). Or for example that no evidence that the timber has been legally purchased e.g. lack of invoices or a notification of illegal felling/warning from the appropriate authority. 

Major non-conformances mean that the application you currently have with the BSL doesn’t match what you have presented to the BSL team (specifically with regards to the sustainability or fuel quality criteria) and will lead to your fuel status being changed to “Suspended pending removal” of a fuel and you must act promptly to provide further evidence/clarification, or you may even need to make a new application. If you have any major non-conformances your fuel would be immediately suspended pending removal and you have 5 working days to complete any actions. If they were not completed by then your fuel is removed and you need to make a new application.  

If you have minor non-conformances you have 20 working days to complete the actions, if they are not resolved within that time frame your fuel status will change to “suspended pending removal” and you have 5 working days to resolve the action. Again, if you do not meet this deadline your fuel will be removed and a new application  would be required.  

In the rest of this article, I will go through some of these minor and major non-conformances so that you can check your fuels and make sure everything is correct. If you find something needs updating, contact the BSL to seek advice and then make any changes if required. 

What do we ask on an audit? 

At the start of the audit, we go through all the details you have provided, including your correspondence and depot addresses, and contact details. If you have moved your production depot and have not made a new application this could be your first major non-compliance. Having a different depot will result in a change in the greenhouse gas emissions of the fuel so it’s critical that new applications are made if you move depot. 

We then ask you to talk through everything you do, from sourcing your raw materials, through production to storage and use or delivery depending on what type of supplier you are. 

Raw materials 

Have your raw materials changed? If they are completely different than on your original application, you may be asked to make a new one. A common error is to select ‘Short Rotation Coppice’ (SRC) when you are actually using raw material derived from traditional coppice. SRC is coppice that is grown as an energy crop which is usually willow densely planted in fields and would be cut every 2-5 years using equipment like a forage harvester. Traditional coppice is cut on a longer cycle can be a range of different species and has a much bigger diameter. If you are using raw materials from traditional coppice and you were a self-supplier this would be classed as ‘virgin’ raw material. If you were a producer trader this would be hardwood roundwood. 

If the distance that your raw materials travels to get to your depot changes by more than 10% a new application will be  required. So, for example if you used to get your raw materials from 1 mile (which was included on the application) away and now its 50 miles, this affects your greenhouse gas emissions, resulting in a major non-conformance and a new application would be required. 

The main area of error with raw materials is with the ‘Land Criteria’. Producers, Traders and Producer-Traders of virgin or virgin/waste blend must demonstrate their compliance with the Land Criteria rules. (Self-Suppliers have different land criteria and waste fuels are exempt from this, see the guidance which can be found using the following links:

• Self-Suppliers
• Waste

As a Producers, Traders, and Producer-Traders when you applied you will have selected one of three types of Land Criteria. Category A is when you can demonstrate that your raw materials and fuel is FSC, PEFC or SBP. Further guidance can be found here https://www.biomass-suppliers-list.service.gov.uk/about/sustainability-criteria/  The main non-compliance associated with this is if you were certified but then at a later date have decided to leave the certification scheme. If you haven’t informed the BSL of this change this may be a minor compliance and you will be asked to change your Land Criteria type to a Category B. 

Category B is split into two types, Category B full evidence is when you have a UKFS approved forestry plan in place for all your raw materials (usually appropriate only for those sourcing raw materials from a handful of woodlands), and Category B – Regional Risk Based Assessment (RBRA). Full evidence non-conformances may arise if the forest plan is no longer valid, or if this has been selected by mistake. RBRAs are one of the main areas for non-conformance issues include: 

• Incorrect depots listed in section 3. 

• Section 5 not being completed at all when it should be (If you source more than 750t of virgin timber annually this needs to be completed) 
• Section 5 not matching the information included on the rest of the application. 
• The types of evidence being collected are not included in the evidence boxes in section 5. 
• Evidence is not being collected (e.g., felling licences, forest plan or FSC information) 
• Evidence is not being checked for validity. 

• Invoices are sent when asked but the information may be on the weight tickets, if so, these should be sent as well. 

Sometimes evidence can be difficult to collect especially if you are obtaining most of your raw materials from smaller woodlands. If you are worried contact BSL and ask for more guidance or check the documents and guidance section on the BSL website (https://www.biomass-suppliers-list.service.gov.uk/documents-and-guidance/) 

Fuels 

The key area for errors with the fuel is record keeping. Minor non-conformances often arise from: 

• Not keeping any records – for self-suppliers and producers that force dry fuel – records of how much fuel is used in the boiler and the moisture content of the fuel. 

• Not checking the moisture content of the fuel using an appropriate method (e.g., using a pin meter to check the moisture content of woodchip!) 
• Not having a copy of the Emissions Certificate for the boiler 
• Not having Woodsure or ENplus certification (this can lead to a major non-conformance) 

If you are selling fuel 

• Incorrect or insufficient information on invoices to customers  

• The unit of sale (tonnes/m3/kWh) is not included. 
• The ISO product specification is not included on invoices. 

Invoices to your customers should include: 

• Your business address 
• Your customers address 

• Dates sold and delivered 
• The correct BSL number 
• The moisture content 
• The fuel specification 
• Amount sold (including the unit of sale) 

• If your fuel is a waste fuel the correct waste code 

Major non-conformances can arise if the distance that you deliver the fuel to your customers changes dramatically. For example, if you only had one customer to start with that was less than 30 miles away and then as your business grew you now deliver nationally. However, it may not be if this was a one-off delivery, so keeping track of your weighted average distance to customers is definitely a good thing to keep on top of! 

The key take home message is to keep your records up to date, and if make any changes to the type of raw materials, where you get it from, where you produce your fuel and where you deliver to get in touch with the BSL helpdesk to see if you need to make a new application. This way you can be sure of receiving the email thanking you for your time and stating you have no actions following your audit! 

The audit process

The BSL Administrators are reminding everyone with authorised fuels of the audit process to help ensure ongoing scheme compliance. If you have any questions on the process, the BSL Helpdesk in on hand to discuss this update in more detail with you.

Audit types

The BSL audit team conduct both site and desktop (telephone) audits. If you are selected for a telephone audit, you will receive an email from us advising you that you have been selected for audit and requesting documents that we require to conduct it. Once we have received these documents we will then send you a selection of dates and times to choose a convenient time for your audit. Once the audit has been conducted you will receive an audit report with a deadline to complete your actions. If you fail to complete these actions within the deadline your BSL number may be suspended, and this may result in removal of your BSL number.

If you are selected for a site audit, the auditor will contact you directly to request any documentation required prior to the audit and to book in their visit. You will also received an audit report following the audit, and these actions must be completed by the deadline given to avoid suspension or removal from the BSL.

Pre-audit documentation

The documentation we require, depends upon your supplier type and the type of fuel you produce or trade.

Self-suppliers

We require:

For all fuels:

• A copy of the emissions certificate for your boiler (if your boiler was installed before 24^th September 2013, please provide evidence of the date of installation and evidence of the fuel type and moisture content your boiler can take)
• Your records illustrating the amount of fuel your boiler uses for the last 12 months
• Your records illustrating that you are monitoring the moisture content
• A copy of your fuel quality certification (if applicable)

If you are processing wood fuel from your own woodland:

• A copy of your felling licence/management plan/alternative evidence to prove that you have the legal right to harvest the biomass 

If using waste wood:

• Any permits/exemption certificates that you have and a description/photograph of your raw materials and fuel

If purchasing top up fuel:

• Please provide 5 copies of your top up fuel invoices (these should show the BSL number of the fuel supplied by your supplier)

Producers and producer-traders

For all fuels:

• An explanation of how you calculate your quarterly returns
• Test results for the moisture content of your raw material and your product 
• 5 invoices for your raw material
• A copy of your fuel quality certificate (if applicable)

For waste fuels:

• Copies of your exemptions/permits if you are processing or using waste wood
• A brief description of your raw material and/or photographs of your raw material

If you are selling your fuel:

• Your distance to customer and the information you used to calculate this at the time of your application
• 5 invoices to your customers (please note: customer details and pricing information are not required)

If you are using your fuel in your own boiler/s:

• A copy of your boiler emissions certificate(if your boiler was installer before 24th September 2013, please provide evidence of the date of installation and evidence of the fuel type and moisture content your boiler can take)
• Your records illustrating the amount of fuel your boiler uses for the last 12 months

Traders

• Copies of 5 sales invoices for the fuel being audited
• Copies of 5 supplier invoices for the fuel being audited (please note: customer details and pricing information are not required)
• A copy of your fuel quality certification (if applicable)
• A description of your delivery method and, if supplying bagged fuels, a photograph of the bags

• The list of your depots and any other BSL numbers you have
• The list of your BSL fuel suppliers
• If trading with overseas suppliers, please also provide shipping notes

If you are unsure about any of the documentation required, please contact the audit team. If you don’t keep some of the records required, the auditor will discuss this with you during the audit and advise ways that you can comply in future.

Contact the BSL Helpdesk

Click here to contact the BSL Helpdesk using our contact enquiry form, or call the team on (+44) 01684 215253. The Helpdesk is open Monday to Thursday, 9:30am to 5pm and to 4:30pm on Friday. 

The BSL Administrators would like to remind everyone with authorised fuels of the membership renewal process.

Membership fee is due on 1st January each year. The membership fee is a flat fee per account, not per fuel, and is calculated based on company size information provided during registration. For individuals, a membership fee of £25 + VAT will be charged.

Membership fee by company size: for individuals £25 + VAT. For small / micro companies £120 + VAT. For medium / large companies £295 + VAT. Self-Suppliers will be charged an annual membership fee each January. Producers, Producer-Traders and Traders will be charged on a quarterly basis in January, April, July and October to coincide when quarterly reporting data is submitted, and tonnage fees are paid. In the case of removal of a fuel or supplier by the BSLadministrator, no fees will be refunded.

Quarterly reporting data will be accepted from the first day of the month following the end of the reporting period (“QR Date”) and can be reported up to 30 days after QR Date. If, after this date, quarterly reports have not been submitted, the fuel(s) may be audited and/or suspended or removed from the BSL. Once the quarterly report has been submitted, payment can be made. This is by PayPal or BACS. Payment date is on or before QR Date +30 days and is not +30 days from the date you submit your quarterly report.

• In January, suppliers will need to report on woodfuel sold in the period between 1st October to 31st December. 
• In April, suppliers will need to report on woodfuel sold in the period 1st January to 31st March 
• In July, suppliers will need to report on woodfuel sold in the period 1st April to 30th June 
• In October, suppliers will need to report on woodfuel sold in the period 1st July to 30th September.

Late submissions of quarterly figures may be accepted in exceptional cases where prior permission is applied for from, and granted by, the BSL Administrator. Any person wishing to apply for such an exemption should contact the helpdesk as far in advance of the Quarterly Report date as possible, and never later than QR Date +35 days. The BSL helpdesk will take details of the length of extension being requested, the reason, and any supporting evidence. The helpdesk will confirm to the applicant in writing the outcome of their request, usually in a maximum of five working days. Dispensations will be on a strictly case-by-case basis. Since the veracity of evidence will likely be difficult to validate, all such requests will have an impact on the Supplier’s risk profile.

Get in touch with the BSL Helpdesk on 01684 215253 or email helpdesk@bsladmin.org.

Renewable Energy Association undertake independent review of fuel quality implementation

In January 2021 fuel quality legislation was laid in Schedule 4A of the RHI regulations.  

Schedule 4A was intended to come into force on 1^st April 2022 and cover the implementation of fuel quality standards for all biomass boilers participating in the Domestic and Non-Domestic RHI that are burning wood.   The fuel quality requirements were put into legislation by BEIS, enforced by Ofgem and impacted on suppliers and self suppliers alike.   Anyone claiming RHI payments needs to comply either with a BSL number or if a self reporter to Ofgem, evidence that they comply with the legislation.  

The new requirements were originally to come into force in April 2022. However, implementation was delayed until June 2022 due to it becoming clear that the industry was neither fully aware or prepared for them to come into effect.  

REA’s independent review seeks to identify what went wrong with Schedule 4A’s implementation, what went right – and to deliver recommendations for future implementation of similar regulations so that lessons can be learned from this experience. If you are interested in giving your opinion, we will be sharing a link to the REA stakeholders review in early 2023 and we will advise all BSL participants of this review.  

The REA is well placed to conduct this review as the Biomass Heat industry trade body and an independent observer to the implementation of the scheme.

This year and last have been significant years in the recent history of the BSL service and many of you will have experienced the highs and lows of this. With this in mind I wanted to share with you a ‘behind the scenes’ view about what’s been happening and how it all went.  The first was the contract transfer from Gemserv to Woodsure and the second was 

First a little context, in case you do not know.  The BSL Advisory panel is made up of BSL members like yourselves, voted in by you. It meets quarterly to advise the BSL service and the government department BEIS on the day to day experience of members of the service, to ensure value for money for members and to provide member input to new developments and initiatives. 

Contract Transition

Last year if you recall the contract to manage the BSL service changed hands from a company called Gemserv and was awarded to Woodsure part of Hetas.  The transition happened in the summer of last year and for intents and purposes went very smoothly, however much like to proverbial swan gliding elegantly across the water, there was a lot of frantic paddling underneath to make it all work. 

A lot of work was needed to transfer all the IT systems and data (what you see as the BSL website) to the new organisation as well as all the call handling systems and processes.  While Gemserv were extremely helpful with the transfer, much of this was new to the Woodsure team and getting to grips with the old system and ensuring that it ran on Woodsure’s platforms was not as straight forward as everyone would have liked.  That said, Woodsure burned the candle at both ends to make this happen and both the IT and the call handling the systems were up and running seamlessly at the point of transition. 

The good news is that Woodsure has just upgraded to a new portal and whilst there are still a few teething issues due to the extremely complex nature of the website, these should diminish over time.   

Implementing the New Quality Laws

As you know this year saw the implementation of the government’s new fuel quality legislation which required that all biomass fuels sold to RHI supported boilers must be of an appropriate quality standard to remain accredited with a BSL number. This was the most significant development in the BSL service since its inception, impacting over 4,000 suppliers and 7,500 fuels.  

Planning for this this started last year. The aim was clear – to ensure that every BSL Supplier was given fair and reasonable opportunity to comply by the deadline of the 1st April 2022 and that end users would not be adversely impacted. The project team was well staffed with “surge” capacity from the both the extended Woodsure and Hetas teams to help if needed. 

Implementation began in January with emails going out and to inform suppliers of the deadline and what the new law required for suppliers to be ready by April 1^st 2022. 

There were several challenges the team had to overcome to get this over the line.  

• Interpretation of the new legal requirements and how to implement them was still being refined during the implementation period. Any new interpretations needed to be agreed by BEIS and Ofgem before updated information could be issued leading to delays in responses and new FAQ’s.
• The complexity of larger applications increased the time taken to process and meet deadline.
• The large volume of work which needed to be handled in a short period of time and the number of consultancies offering fuel quality certification services delaying the quality assurance process and registration.  
• The Ukraine war and the removal of Russian sourced fuels added a complexity that has not been planned for. 
• A COVID outbreak in the Woodsure/HETAS team which took out 50% of the workforce for 2-3 weeks.
• Severe difficulties in recruiting new staff as experienced by many businesses over this period.

That said the single biggest challenge was to encourage us as members to take action! 

In an ideal world the applications to get BSL fuels assessed for quality and registered as such would have happened evenly with steady stream of applications over the 2 months implementation period keeping staff busy but not overwhelmed.  This was not to be!

In spite of 9 communications between the 24^th of January and 25^th March using a variety of different media (email, SMS messaging, the website and physical letters in the post) only 40% of suppliers had taken any action by a week before the deadline.  In some cases, this was due to contact details being out of date or companies having changed name since registration, but mostly we seemed to be pre-occupied by other priorities.  

When we as members did take action it seems we all did so at the same time, overwhelming the BSL helpdesk and the Woodsure and ENplus quality assurance teams. To illustrate, the communications which got the most traction were the physical letter sent out on January 24^th and the BSL number suspension email sent out on the 25^th March.  The former resulted in 1,700 calls and 554 emails in the last week of January and the first couple of weeks of February.   The later resulted in 3,192 calls and 576 emails in late March and early April. It is this which precipitated the extension for compliance until 1^St June 2022.

As with all big projects there are several lessons we can learn from this and these will be captured in a review later in the year. There have also been a number of benefits including a measurable increase in understanding of what biomass fuel quality means and in the quality of fuels provided under the scheme which was a critical objective for the legislation. 

Overall from January to June the BSL helpdesk team dealt with over 6,000 telephone enquiries and 4,000 emails, while simultaneously Woodsure were processing over 3000 fuel quality applications to be cross referenced back into the BSL portal. 1,210 fuels were removed from the BSL mostly for not demonstrating and fuel quality (702) or for non-payment (412).   As of May this year the BSL had 6,360 fuels registered and 3,829 suppliers fully accredited for fuel quality, with just 340 fuels and 320 suppliers still in progress.   

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Letter from Ross Lowrie, Advisory Panel representative for Self Suppliers.

To introduce myself, I’m a climate change policy advisor who lives in a small Northumberland woodland and grows, cuts, splits and dries my own biomass for use in my ETA log boiler. I’m a passionate advocate for sustainable woodland management and low carbon solutions to tackle the increasingly urgent climate change challenge. For the last 7 years I’ve benefitted from Domestic RHI payments, and government has benefitted from my small contribution to decarbonisation of heating. I’ve gone down the biomass route because it works for me and my family, and because there’s a comforting simplicity to the supply chain given global fuel security issues. It’s no longer than the height of one of my over-grown pines. The northerner in me is drawn to the old adage that “he is twice warmed who cuts his own wood”. If you’re also registered as Self-Supplier under the Biomass Supplier List and a recipient of domestic or non-domestic RHI then I represent your views on the BSL Advisory Panel, and you may understand some of the irks that I set out below. 

The introduction of new Regulations in England insisting that recipients of Renewable Heat Incentive grant money demonstrate adherence to fuel quality requirements has been challenging. The intent of the Regulations is to reduce particulate emissions into our atmosphere and dry, good quality biomass fuels help achieve this. For self-suppliers of woodfuel, there have been particular challenges. Many of us are small scale woodlanders, most likely not full-time foresters, even less so full-time bureaucrats. In fact, we’re defined by not selling our wood-fuel, rather we simply process enough for our own self supply, whether that be for domestic or commercial use.  We keep the quality high because if we break our biomass boilers, we get the bill to repair them. 

Recent changes to the RHI Regulations mean we now need to demonstrate that we use good quality fuel by registering with Woodsure (or an equivalent scheme). 

This sits alongside a need to register fuels with the Biomass Suppliers List (BSL – a sustainability scheme), so at the moment we have to join two schemes, something that Woodsure wants to change and proposes a single scheme (or equivalents) for the future, to reduces costs and burden on the sector. 

Joining these schemes involves application form and the inevitable fee for handling it.  Then there’s the sending of a sample to Tewkesbury for testing and verification that the fuel is dry and not contaminated. It also takes us time to fill in forms that could be spent running a business, swinging an axe or when all else is done, enjoying our woodlands. 

This requirement for fuel quality systems and protocols and demonstration of sustainability is much needed and very sensible and proportionate for commercial woodfuel merchants – but in my view the requirement for self-suppliers must be kept as simple and cost effective as ever possible. 

I suggest that all I need to ensure the right quality is an axe and a moisture meter, all else is a distraction. Woodsure reports that their audits and testing demonstrate that not all self-suppliers find it so straight-forward and that test results demonstrate the ongoing need for some suppliers to persist and improve the quality of their fuel. 

For me there is no prospect of chemically contaminated or tropical rainforest sourced pellets entering my supply chain, and the enormous contentment of knowing that is hard to overstate. I know I’m “doing the right thing” and I think we need a system that recognises the low risk nature of self-suppliers.  I accept that it may not be the same for everyone, and I want to hear from you about your views of being a self-supplier, particularly in relation to fuel quality requirements, so please lend me your voice.   I’ll represent your views and pass them on to the BSL Advisory Panel and Woodsure.