Sustainable Leaders in Our Industry

As Sustainable Leaders in Our Industry – Land Energy has successfully gained the Certification Mark with Galloway and Southern Ayrshire (GSA) Biosphere – the only globally recognised sustainability badge.

We run our business in a sustainable and environmentally friendly way playing an active role in the UK’s transition to Net Zero, while safeguarding the outstanding natural beauty of the landscape, supporting thriving local communities for generations to come.

Since the day we opened our doors in 2006, Land Energy has held its core beliefs at the forefront of its decisions – working towards creating a better life in the local area for people and nature to create a more sustainable and ‘clean’ future in Scotland.

The Galloway and Southern Ayrshire UNESCO Biosphere has three main aims/functions:

• Conservation: promoting the preservation of wildlife, habitats and landscape.
• Learning: supporting a better understanding of nature and global issues.
• Development: fostering a sustainable economy and society.

To gain this highly sought-after Certification Badge for Sustainability, Land Energy has achieved at least six of the below principles:

Supporting the economy to benefit people and nature

Land Energy is proud to support the local community as Sustainable Leaders in Our Industry – we do this in several different ways:

• Employment
  • We employ 46 direct staff and influence, and more then 100 within our direct supply chain
• Purchasing
  • We purchase all our raw material within 60 miles of the factory – spending £1m per month.
  • We spend around £150k per month in our local town, Girvan
  • Within 1km of our factory, we spend £50k per month on goods and services
  • And within 100km its £1.5m a month!

Helping to conserve the natural resources of the Biosphere

The cornerstone of Land Energy’s supply chain is our wood pellet production plant situated on the South West coast of Scotland in the South Ayrshire town of Girvan. Land Energy purposefully developed and built the plant within the Galloway and Southern Ayrshire UNESCO Biosphere.

‘We sit in the largest forested area in the UK – that’s why we are here – our haulage distance is an average of only 50 miles. No tree is ever cut down for our use; we utilise the fibre with less ‘value’ (we take what everyone else doesn’t want). The forests have felling licenses, and every tree that is felled is replanted – last year alone, we replanted 1.3 million trees!’

Our pellet factory in Girvan is powered entirely by our biomass CHP plant that is fueled by diverse sources of wood chips, which are also locally sourced. This strategic investment decouples us from the pricing of conventional fuels and enables us to control our energy and production costs. It also ensures that virtually no fossil fuels are used in our production process and as a result, our pellets have an ultra-low carbon footprint.

Promoting cultural heritage and local products

As a local business to Girvan, we make a local product from start to finish on site. The core of our business is rooted in South Ayrshire, so we love to ‘shout’ about where we come from. As a local business to Girvan, we make a local product from start to finish on site. The core of our business is rooted in South Ayrshire and we love to “shout” about where we come from. We promote the area through our marketing, product bags and trade shows, sharing its world-class reputation, scenic views and sense of community.

Contributing to the health and well-being of the community

Land Energy works closely with local people by employing, sourcing and working with as many local businesses as possible. Girvan is one of the few areas of the UK where there is a surplus of unrivalled skills. Land Energy is able to invest and nourish this in the development and growth of the factory, knowledge and research which, in turn, develops and sustains the local community.

In addition, we source wood pellets for heating to local hospitals, schools, care homes, farms and other businesses in the local area.

Developing knowledge, understanding and promote research

As an ever-growing business, Land Energy prides itself in continually developing knowledge to become more economical, sustainable, and efficient. We inspect everything from the machinery on our factory floor, right down to the molecular structure of timber, so we can make the most out of the resources we have at hand.

Our attention to detail by our production team has earned Land Energy its reputation as a premium quality pellet producer. We can guarantee this by undertaking regular laboratory burn tests to ensure a minimum calorific value of 17.3 GJ/tonne (Gigajoules). Our pellets have an exceptionally low ash content (typically less than 0.2%), resulting in low boiler maintenance and fueling costs.

Raising awareness of the Galloway and Southern Ayrshire (GSA) Biosphere

We work closely with the GSA Biosphere to help develop and contribute to our local community, whether it is through marketing and promoting or various other ways. We are also looking into putting the Biosphere logo on our packaging. This will allow our customers to have the assurance that our products are the best of the best!

Land Energy – Sustainable Leaders in Our Industry