- Campaign for the Farmed Environment | Mon 25th October 2010
- T Hammond & Sons win prize at Nottinghamshire Environmental Awards | Sun 8th August 2010
Phoenix Farm Group came to life early in 2007; the business objective is to produce a range of green, low carbon fuels for use both within the group and by external customers.A number of the businesses that are part of Sherwood are also involved with Phoenix Farm Group. It is the availability of the Phoenix Farm Group product set that underpins the ability of Sherwood to make its carbon claims both now and in the future.
The businesses main products are pure plant oil (PPO) which, once esterified, becomes biodiesel. The co-product is rape meal which we sell as a heat source in briquettes that have a similar thermal value to coal. A pelletised form of the meal is also being developed for use in a range of commercial and domestic combined heat and power plants. PPO can be used in a suitably converted diesel engine which produces very significant CO2 savings, and the bio-diesel in the majority of existing diesel engines.
We are also developing food uses for the PPO with HPL's existing food manufacturing customers and it is likely that we will take the oil back from them, once used, and make this into biodiesel as well. Future projects include the development of an anaerobic digestion plant that will take a combination the group’s waste produce from the packing activity and forage maize grown as part of the group’s sustainable cropping rotations. This plant will produce both green electricity and heat that will be used in group projects as above.
This business will incorporate many of the Sherwood who will alongside other growers, provide oilseed rape which will be cold crushed and then treated to make bio diesel, rape meal feed-stocks and other products. The group will use the fuel to power the members equipment, provide electricity for our new packhouse and fuel our delivery lorries
