The price of biomass remains stable and is the most economical option for heating in 2018

The stability of biomass prices, in clear contrast to the progressive increase in the cost of heating oil - which has risen by over 35% in the last two years - has led to a significant increase in the savings represented by the use of biomass as heating fuel, which at the moment can be up to 66% compared to the costs of diesel.

Heating diesel has risen 22% in one year, according to official statistics. Although the truth is that, in absolute numbers, the liter of heating diesel cost in July of last year 0.59 euros and this year is at 0.78 euros, showing that the rise has been more than 30% in one year.

In the same period, two kilograms of pellets have gone from costing €0.46 to €0.48. Two kilograms of pellets is the energy equivalent of one liter of diesel; That is, to obtain the heat offered by one liter of diesel, two kilos of pellets are needed.

But families that rely on natural gas for heat don't have it much better. The price of this fuel has increased by 32% in the last year. And cylinders have risen more than 25% in the last two years to €14.61.
 

The most economical option
After the escalation of fossil fuel prices, if the option of burning gas or pellets for heating is compared, the savings are greater than 50% in favor of pellets. In June of this year, the energy cost was €0.11/kWh for natural gas compared to €0.05/kWh for pellets, delivered to the home by tanker truck.

Although the most economical option is the “treated” wood chip for energy use, from prunings, thinnings and forest residues.

The cost of 2.35 kilograms of wooden splinter supplied at home, energy equivalent to a liter of heating diesel, represents 66%savings; That is, one saves 0.52 eurfor each liter of diesel.