Ligna Alba are an asset locked CIC providing a ‘passive-solar’ drying kiln for on-site drying of locally sourced timber in remote and rural areas for construction purposes.
Traditional drying methods are expensive and as a result most construction grade timber in the UK is imported…hard to grasp but the UK is the 3rd largest importer of timber in the world!
The passive-solar kiln will produce good quality construction grade timber, close to the forest source. Being off-grid there are zero emissions associated with the kiln drying and being closer to the forest there are reduced emissions associated with haulage, the quality of passive dried timber is superior.
Each m3 timber dried in our passive-solar kiln will save the discharge of 1.6 tonnes CO2 into the atmosphere compared to existing methods.
Our ambition is to enable remote and rural communities to procure locally grown timber, owning the process from harvesting to construction of ‘healthy to live in’ and ‘affordable to run’ buildings. Reduced transport costs and carbon emissions will help meet environmental targets and support communities by developing local skills and jobs, making them more competitive, sustainable and independent of current market limitations.
Existing methods are static, can be expensive to buy and run and can be complex to operate.
The benefits of the ‘passive-solar’ kiln will increasingly appeal to customers as legislation demands a reduction in global carbon emissions and changes to supply chain procurement.
During summer '24 we were awarded 70% funding by Innovate UK to develop the kiln with a Smart Grant, from over 1900 applicants.
We are looking for donations towards the 30% top-up of our Innovate UK 'grant' to develop, fabricate and test the prototype passive-solar kiln via community group field trials. Major donors can be dedicated on the kiln body.