Ligna Alba are an asset locked CIC developing a transportable ‘passive solar’ timber 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 like the vacuum kiln illustrated are static, expensive and are 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.

We commissioned research by Edinburgh Napier and Stirling Universities to prove the concept and research demand for our passive dried timber. Fndngs were positive, encouraging the move to real world prototype testing and in June this year we were awarded 70% funding to develop the kiln with a Smart Grant from Innovate UK from over 1900 applicants.

We are looking for donations towards the 30% match funding requirement to develop, fabricate and test the prototype passive-solar kiln via community group field trials monitored by Napier University. Major donors can be dedicated on the kiln body.