I received an e mail today from a producer of kiln dried firewood who sells in bulk to the trade….he is based in Belarus.
To be exact 1643 miles away from our yard in Stockbridge. Delivered by artic (average fuel consumption for an artic lorry is 9mpg, that would be 177 gallons of fuel burnt to get the firewood to our yard). Much of the kiln dried firewood sold by large suppliers in the U.K is sourced in such a way. If logs are being sold stacked neatly in a crate, they are sourced from outside the U.K (its more cost effective to ship stacked logs then loosely loaded logs)
Often Kiln dried firewood is advertised as being better for the environment due to the low moisture content, an argument often used by national suppliers to justify the extra cost of their product, this is untrue on many levels and the carbon footprint of such a product is never mentioned :- diesel burnt getting the wood into the U.K, the fuel used to dry the logs and then the nationwide delivery within the U.K all negate the benefit of burning such logs. Here at Test Valley Logs all our timber is cut, dried, and delivered within a 20-mile radius of our Yard. And there are many other local suppliers doing what we do, so please burn locally sourced, dry wood on your fire. Local jobs, healthy woodland and sustainability should be at the heart of every firewood producer’s ethos.