The Millennium Forest is a proposal for a multi-use forest around London which would generate electricity and heat for the city, absorb wastes, and provide a resource for the people of London. It is sited in the marginal agricultural land around the M25.
The forest is proposed as a positive way to mark the Millennium and a realistic response to the ecological crisis - it will help London become more sustainable at the same time as creating a positive landmarks visible from space. The forest is composed of two major elements: Short Rotation Coppice farms, where coppiced willow is grown, harvested and converted into electricity and heat, within a traditional deciduous forest which is sustainably managed for timber.
The most efficient technology for converting Short Rotation Coppice into heat and electricity is relatively new: gasification. The wood is burnt at high temperature and pressure in an oxygen-starved environment, where it partially burns to produce hydrogen, carbon monoxide and methane. These gases are then burnt in an internal combustion engine which drives a generator and produces heat. A gasification system produces electricity with an efficiency of about 28%, and heat with an efficiency of 54%. The total efficiency of primary energy conversion is thus about 84%, which can be compared with the efficiency of electricity production in the conventional manner of 28%.
In the forest design, about 60,000 hectares are grown as Short Rotation Coppice (40% of the total forest area). This will generate 2,240 GWh of electricity per year (11% of London' current electricity needs) and 4,480 GWh of heat per year - providing heating for about 150,000 houses and about 9 million square metres of greenhouses for fruit and vegetable production.
Robert Webb, 121 Highbury New Park, London N5 2HG (tel 0171 434 4488 w; fax 0171 434 4499; tel 0171 704 9346 h).
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