Glossary
A
AAU: Assigned Amount Unit
AER: alternative Energy Requirement. This is the scheme through which the Irish Government awards contracts to the producers of electricity from renewable sources and from peat.
AMWS: annual mean wind speed ash: the material left after complete combustion of a fuel. for clean wood usually about 0.5 to 1 % on dry weight basis.
B
BFB: Bubbling fluidised bed
BNE: Best New Entrant
Biomass: Biomass is the biodegradable fraction of products, waste and residues from agriculture (including vegetal and animal substances), forestry and related industries, as well as the biodegradable fraction of industrial and municipal waste.
Bioenergy: Bioenergy is the general term used to denote renewable energy derived from biomass.
Basic density: ratio of the mass on dry basis and the solid volume on green basis
Bark: organic cellular tissue which is formed by taller plants (trees and bushes) on the outside of the growth zone (cambium) as a shell for the wooden body
Biofuel: fuel produced directly or indirectly from biomass
Bridging: tendency of particles to form a stable arch across an opening and hindering flow
Bulk density: the ratio of the mass on wet basis and the solid volume bulk volume: volume of a material including space between the particles
C
CCGT: Combined cycle gas turbine
CDM: Clean development mechanism
CER: Commission for Energy Regulation
CER: Certified emission reductions CFB: Circulating fluidised bed
CHP: Combined heat and power
CM: Centimetre
CO: carbon monoxide, poisonous gas
CO2: Carbon dioxide
COP: Conference of Parties
COFORD: Council for Forest Research and Development
Calorific value: energy amount per unit mass or volume released on complete combustion
Chips: see wood chips
Chunkwood: wood cut with sharp cutting devices in which most of the material has a typical length, substantially longer and more coarse than wood chips. Chunkwood has a typical length of 50 to 150 mm
D
DECC: Department of the Environment, Climate and Communications
DM: Dry matter
DAFM: Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine. DAFM, through the Forest Service, is responsible for forest policy in Ireland.
Demolition wood: used wood arising from demolition of buildings or civil engineering installations
E
EC: European Commission
ERU: Emission Reduction Units
ESB: Electricity Supply Board
ESRI: Economic and Social Research Institute
ET: Emissions trading
EU: European Union
F
FBC: Fluidised bed combustion
Firewood: cut and split oven-ready fuelwood used in household burning appliances like stoves, fireplaces and central heating systems
G
GBP: Pounds, sterling
GHG: Greenhouse gas
GJ: Gigajoule
GW: Gigawatt
GWh: Gigawatt-hour
Green chips: wood chips made of fresh logging and thinning residues, including branches, tops and needles/leaves
H
H: Hour
Ha: Hectare heating value: energy amount per unit mass or volume released on complete combustion
Hog fuel: fuelwood in the form of pieces of varying size and shape, produced by crushing with blunt tools such as rollers, hammers, teeth or flails
I
IGCC: Integrated gasification combined cycle
IPP: Independent Power Producer
IPPC: Integrated Pollution Prevention and Control
ITC: Irish Timber Council
J
JI: Joint implementation
K
kg: Kilogram
kTOE: Kilo tonnes of oil equivalent
kW: Kilowatt kWe: Kilowatt electrical
kWh: Kilowatt-hour
L
Loose volume: volume of a material including air space between the particles
Logging residues: woody biomass residues which are created during timber harvesting. they include tree tops and branches.
M
M: Metre
MJ: Megajoule
Mtoe: Millions of tonnes of oil equivalent
MW: Megawatt
MWe: Megawatt electrical
MWh: Megawatt-hour
MWth: Megawatt thermal moisture content, wet basis: moisture content as a percentage of the total wet weight of a sample. Used in the wood for energy sector. moisture content, dry basis: the moisture content expressed as a percentage of the dry weight of the sample. Mainly used in saw mill and board industry.
N
NCCS: National Climate Change Strategy
NFFO: Non-fossil fuel obligation NGO: Non-government organisations
NOx: Oxides of nitrogen net calorific value: The calorific value of the fuel in MJ/kg at the moisture content as received.
O
OPW: Office of Public Works
Oven dry wood: wood, free of moisture, produced by drying to constant weight at 105 degrees Celsius
P
PPA: Power Purchase Agreement
PSO: Public Service Order
Pellets: see wood pellets
Q
R
R&D: Research and development
REA: Renewable Energy Sources Act
RES: Renewable energy share
RES-E: Renewable energy share - electricity
RMU: Emission Removal Unit
S
SEAI: Sustainable Energy Authority Ireland
SOx: Oxides of sulphur SRC: short rotation coppice (harvesting every 2-3 years)
SRF: Short Rotation Forestry (harvesting after 5 to 15 years)
T
T: Tonne, metric
TFC: Total Final Consumption
TGC: Tradable green certificate
TPER: Total Primary Energy Requirement
TWh: Terawatt-hour tree section: part of a tree (with branches) which has been cut into suitable length, but not processed.
U
UNFCCC: United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change
V
V: Volt
VAT: Value added tax.
W
Wood pellets: woody biomass which has been densified under high temperature and pressure. They have usually a cylindrical shape and a diameter of 4 to 25 mm.
Whole tree: felled, underlimbed tree, excluding root system.
Wood chips: chipped woody biomass in the form of pieces with a defined particle size produced by mechanical treatment with sharp tools such as knives. wood chips have typical length of 5-50 mm and a low thickness as compared to the other dimensions.
Wood briquettes: woody biomass that has been compressed into solid blocks either with a cylindrical shape of over 25 mm diameter or in other shapes such as rectangular, octogonal etc.