Students focus on the environment

Students from Caereinion High School have been planting trees at Mathrafal, Meifod as part of the Forestry Commission Wales Better Woodland for Wales scheme.

 

The planting, which was also supported by The Woodland Trust, aims to plant more than 100 native indigenous trees such as birch, cherry and oak.

 

Teacher Gareth Griffiths said: “Our students are studying for a B.Tec qualification in agriculture, which is equivalent to a GCSE, and nowadays stewardship of the environment is vital to the success of the industry. These youngsters are going to be the farmers of the future; therefore the environmental element of the course is critical to their future within the industry.”

 

Afterwards Marc Jones, a former pupil of Caereinion High School, and founder of EGNISCO a new biomass heat company, gave the 18 students, a tour of the company’s wood-chip biomass heating system recently installed at Mathrafal.

 

Biomass heating uses wood, usually in chip, pellet or log form to provide sustainable heating for commercial, industrial, local authority and residential uses, thus helping to reduce carbon emissions and benefit from green renewable energy.

 

Marc said: “This is the second year we have joined forces with my old school and I am hoping that this event will emphasise to the students the importance of planting trees and woodland management and how it can cut our fuel costs and greatly reduce our carbon footprint.”

 

With the significant rise in fossil fuel prices, Biomass, backed by a prospective Renewable Heat Incentive provided by the Government, is now capable of competing with traditional forms of heating and is seen by environmentalists as an important tool in reducing carbon in the UK.

 

“The tree planting element of the day underlines another important feature of biomass heating in that we aim to source fuel locally from sustainable woodland, offering farmers and other landowners another income stream and providing more jobs within the rural economy,” Marc said.