George Day explains his view on enabling UK Biomass

30th September 2015

Biomass for energy sometimes gets a bad press but ETI’s view is clear that sustainably produced biomass can play a key role in the UK’s future energy mix.

In fact the potential savings from sustainable bioenergy for low carbon energy are so big that they outweigh the value of everything we currently produce in our agricultural sector.  And, if we develop our own domestic supplies of biomass for energy, we can help secure UK energy supplies, mitigate climate change, and create significant green growth opportunities.

But why is biomass for energy so valuable? The answer lies in its flexibility and versatility as a feedstock to generate power, heat, gaseous or liquid fuels. It can be turned into heat, used in power stations instead of fossil fuels and turned into gas fuels such as hydrogen which can be potentially used in vehicles in the future.

It can also deliver negative emissions when combined with carbon capture and storage (CCS) (i.e. net removal of carbon dioxide from the atmosphere). Growing biomass removes carbon from the atmosphere and stores it in both plant matter and the soil as it grows. When it is harvested and converted into energy, the emitted carbon can then be captured at the conversion plant, and stored securely offshore in depleted oil and gas reservoirs or saline aquifers.

Our  modelling work suggests that it could cost the UK tens of £billions (potentially more than 1% of GDP)more every year to deliver an energy system in 2050 that meets its emission reduction targets if it does not use bioenergy.

Or put another way, if neither bioenergy or CCS are developed it is difficult to see how the UK would be able to meet its climate change targets cost effectively. 

If this all seems too good to be true why are we not seeing more sustainable biomass grown in the UK?

One reason is that we think about the UK as being small, densely populated and with limited forest cover, and tend to assume that there is simply not enough space for growing biomass. We prioritise  food production in land use and agricultural policy, and  assume that land is too scarce to accommodate biomass for energy without undermining food production.

But this our newly published report “Enabling UK Biomass” sets out a case to look again at  developing a sustainable UK biomass production capability to complement imported biomass.

Given the huge value of sustainable bioenergy to our low carbon transition, there is real scope to develop biomass for energy as a new highly productive use of land.  The evidence suggests that with the right economic drivers enough land can be made available for biomass, and that this can be done without undermining food production.  It is obviously important to ensure that growing biomass for energy does not undermine the amount of land available for food. But, this can be achieved by shaping policies to give the right incentives to growers.

One of the real challenges in the UK is that agricultural and energy policies are not joined up. If the UK wants to develop its own domestic industry and ensure there is a sustainable and secure source of biomass it needs to give support to its own growers of biomass.

At the ETI we believe there is a strong case for joining up agricultural, land use and energy policies in ways that support domestic biomass production, both to increase land use productivity and to enable us to meet carbon targets affordably.

Growing biomass in the UK would also increase energy security by complementing imports. This would provide economic value to the UK and could be a new income stream for farmers if the sector is developed properly.

But, this will require strategic and long-term commitment to help the sector develop and establish itself.  The investment required would be a good one for UK plc, delivering returns to UK business and consumers in the form of cost-effective low carbon energy long into the future.

To view further information around this report please click here