Mushroom farmers can save thousands on energy costs through the installation of biomass boilers.
For each boiler installed, emissions of CO2 can be reduced by thousands of tonnes each year.
Mushroom farming is energy intensive, with houses needing to be maintained with certain heat and humidity conditions to accelerate the growth of the very best mushrooms. Then there is the sterilization of the growing house once the lifecycle of the mushrooms has been completed, with steam at 110°C needed to kill bacteria before the start a new cycle.
The thermal demand required to grow mushrooms brings the total cost of fuel to about 40% of the cost of the final product.
Biomass boilers installed at Suffolk use woodchip to fuel bed temperatures. Investment from Mushroom PO has been instrumental in bringing significant reductions in fuel costs and reducing the environmental impact of production.
