The willow is not just for making cricket bats or for basketry work, but can be the source of electric power, and is being so used on this island. John Gilliland, having land surplus to food production, looked to the willow as the raw material from which he is able not only to be self-sufficient in heat and light, but can also sell electricity to the official grid.
Anyway, John Gilliland, according to the official Northern Ireland magazine omnibus tells the readers that he operates on a three-year rotation, for willows regenerate themselves every three years. "We plant a third each year and harvest a third each year." This gives him a continuity of supply for his power plant. His farm, the magazine states, "is the first in the UK to use willow as a power source." He favours a project on this scale because it allows profit to be retained at farm level and ensures employment. For, mind you, he is talking in significant figures. Over the phone he explained that his willows cover 110 acres, so his third each year is about 35 acres. A lot. In all, his Brook Hall Estate is 650 acres. A hard-working man. His land is just north of Derry on the Culmore Road.
The willows are harvested in winter and chip is made from them. "These are then dried, using a grain floor drier and fed into a plant called a gassifier. The process is similar to making charcoal and produces a gas which, after the dust has been extracted, is fed directly into the air intake of a diesel engine. Using 10 per cent diesel and 90 per cent wood gas, the engine drives a generator from which we make our electricity, with the heat from the engine and the exhaust used to dry the woodchip, the grain and heating houses on the estate."
The article says that already two manufacturers in the district are considering using willow grown locally in the same manner. John Gilliland has also had people coming from every continent to see the project in operation. Anyone operating such a scheme this side of the Border? Y