The Queenstown Lakes District Council and Central Otago District Council are to partner with two national agencies to investigate the uses of wood bio-waste for heating commercial buildings.
The two councils, the Energy Efficiency and Conservation Authority (EECA) and the Department of Conservation (DOC) are pooling resources for a feasibility study around the collection and processing of waste wood into pellets or wood chips locally for the local market.
QLDC’s district forester Briana Pringle said the product was used in bio-waste burners which were clean and highly efficient but currently, users had to bring in bio-fuel from out-of-town.
“We have plenty of raw material here like wilding pines, we need to find out if it will be economical to turn them into a fuel source and if so, will there be demand for what is produced?” Ms Pringle said.
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