In Chapter 7 we identified that the expanding bioeconomy, which includes using more timber to decarbonize the built environment, is going to demand larger and larger amounts of sustainable wood and wood fibre in the years ahead. We concluded that additional sources of supply, over and above those identified in Chapter 7, would need to be found. In this chapter we examine one specific way in which we can deliver a significant increase in sustainable wood supply: by growing more wood on farms.

We first need to remind ourselves that wood comes in all shapes and sizes, or to be more precise, the demand is for different sorts of wood for different uses. To build more timber-framed houses and to erect more big buildings made from engineered timber we will need an increase in the supply of traditional timber, i.e. long strips of cut wood. In future, as today, the vast majority of this kind of wood will be sourced from the forest. We will also need more woodchips to make wood panels and wood fibre to make insulation. Both of these products can be made from tall “straight” trees grown in the forest but they could be made from smaller trees that are not as straight grown on farms. Similarly, wood for energy can be sourced from the forest but could also be sourced from the farm. In the same way, the wider bioeconomy can take its wood fibre from the forest but could – in most cases – take if from the farm.

Let us begin by focusing specifically on meeting the growing demand for wood for energy, often referred to as biomass. Biomass is simply organic matter used as a fuel and it can be supplied by crops such as willow, Eucalyptus, Miscanthus (a large, woody plant from the grass family), hemp, straw and maize. As we have seen in the previous chapter this demand is set to grow. As this wood for energy demand increases we need to ensure that there are no future conflicts of demand. We must avoid competition over the supply of wood between wood for the energy sector on the one hand and wood for the construction sector on the other.