Innovative Southland business slashes emissions with wood energy

An innovative, Invercargill-based commercial laundry has cut the greenhouse gas emissions from its boiler by a massive 97% by becoming one of the first laundries in the country to install a wood chip boiler for heat.

JA McCallum and Son Limited (known as McCallum Group) provide laundry and dry cleaning services in Southland and Otago. Their old industrial boilers, which were operating at full capacity, were running on LPG and light fuel oil which was expensive. Plans to move to a new site presented McCallum’s with the ideal opportunity to look at alternatives.

In addition to the emissions reduction, the new wood chip boiler has reduced their energy costs by nearly two thirds.

“We are really pleased with the results, said McCallum Group’s Managing Director Wayne McCallum. ‘By reducing the amount of fossil fuels we are using we are actively managing our exposure to the upcoming cost of emissions.  On top of that, we have agreed a five year contract for the wood supply which gives us certainty on our energy costs.”

EECA Business Programme Manager Murray Bell said: “Wood is a fantastic energy resource – it’s 100% renewable, carbon neutral and extremely cost-effective. It’s also something we’re very good at producing here in New Zealand – there is an almost unlimited amount of forest residue available each year in New Zealand. The McCallum Group has shown that switching to wood can reduce a businesses energy costs and carbon footprint.”

In addition to the new boiler, they made the most of the clean slate that a new site offers by installing a system to recycle waste water from the washing process through an emission scrubber, recovering heat and saving more energy.

“It’s great to see McCallum Group taking a holistic view to their opportunities to better manage their energy  – not only are they using renewable energy to reduce their emissions, they have taken steps to use less energy as well. This approach makes sound business sense,” said Murray Bell.

Wayne McCallum said: “For us, this project was all about future-proofing our business. Many of our customers operate in the highly demanding tourism sector. Tourists are demanding that New Zealand businesses reduce their environmental impact, and we wanted to demonstrate to them that we too can reduce the environmental impact of our operations.”

ENDS

Notes to editors

• The project was supported with funding from the Energy Efficiency and Conservation Authority (EECA).  EECA promotes innovative energy-saving and renewable energy projects with funding, advice and support. For more case studies on companies saving energy, reducing costs and converting to renewable energy, see http://www.eecabusiness.govt.nz/case-studies
• There is approximately 40PJ/yr of wood energy available in New Zealand as forest residue. 1 PJ is equivalent to the energy used by 28,000 homes (a city the size of Nelson).
• Since 2007, the Wood Energy Grants Programme has supported 71 projects, reducing CO² emissions by 835,000 tonnes over the projected life of those projects. By July 2011, when all funded projects are complete, demand for wood energy will have been increased by 0.8 PJ per year (110,000 tonnes of green chip). Wood energy supply will have increased by 2.1 PJ – equivalent to the energy used each year by 60,000 NZ homes.
• Several regions around New Zealand are noted bio-energy ‘clusters’ where growing local supply and demand has created a self-sustaining wood industry.  Dunedin and Christchurch are established bio-energy centres, while Invercargill, Nelson, Blenheim, Gisborne and Auckland are all progressing.