The link to the article below discusses the degree to which biomass is in competition with coal as a feed stock for electricity production in the UK it reviews the increasing degree of competition in the UK Energy Market between Coal and Biomass as an energy feedstock. As coal prices in N.W. Europe have recovered then Bloomberg are reporting that UK Utilities including those with contracts with UK Coal plc (Drax for example though this is not mentioned in the article) are finding that using wood pellets is an increasingly attractive alternative to coal – useful info for any arguments to counter ‘need for coal’ arguments when coal operators submit new opencast planning applications


‘Coals two-year high prompts UK Utilities to burn wood: Energy Markets’, Bloomberg, 3/12/10

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 http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2010-12-03/coal-s-surge-coaxes-u-k-utilities-to-burn-wood-energy-markets.html?