Biomass Energy

Drivers at a government level

• Climate change and the Kyoto Protocol. Governments have an obligation to reduce greenhouse gases by 20% by 2010 compared to 1990 levels.
• The Energy White Paper asks for a 60% reduction in greenhouse gases by 2050.
• Energy security. Political instability in countries supplying fossil fuels as well as their finite nature means the likelihood of further increases in price are likely, with domestic consumers being hardest hit. Renewables including biomass are starting to be seen as cheaper and sustainable alternatives that also have the bonus of being environmentally friendly. 

Drivers at an industry level

• Climate Change Levy: A tax on the energy used by industry.
• Renewables Obligation: A requirement for power stations to demonstrate that a given % of the electricity they generate is from renewable sources. This has lead to co-firing at power stations such as Aberthaw.  Current requirement is for 6.7% rising to 15.4% from renewable sources by 2015/16.

Green credentials- a comparison between fossil fuels and biomass energy

The following table is constructed from data in a Department of Trade and Industry report entitled “Carbon and Energy Efficiency Balances for a range of biofuel options” . 

Fuel technology	Energy requirement (MJ/MJ)	Carbon requirement(kgCO2/MJ)	Total greenhouse gas requirements (kg eq CO2/MJ)
Biomass Heat from small scale wood chip fired boiler	0.095	0.005	0.007
Heat from small scale Oil-fired boiler	1.450	0.104	0.105
Biomass Electricity large scale by combustion of Miscanthus	0.272	0.018	0.026
Electricty from UK grid supplies (1996 figures)	3.080	0.150	0.162

Energy requirement (MJ/MJ) is the primary energy input per unit of output.

Likewise the carbon requirement and greenhouse gas requirements are the carbon dioxide emission per unit of output and the greenhouse gas emissions per unit of output respectively.

Biomass Energy in Wales?

A recent review of energy policy for Wales set targets for 10% renewable energy by 2010 and 20 % renewable energy by 2020.  John Valentine from IGER has described biomass as “the sleeping giant of renewables”.  It is seen as one the key components of the renewable energy strategy for Wales and the UK. The biomass task force concluded that biomass was the only realistic renewable option for heat generation, with potential to reduce the UK carbon emissions by 3 million tonnes/year. This would be the comparable to removing 3.2 million cars from the nations roads. In addition to heat generation biomass energy can be competitive across all three energy sectors (heat, electricity and transport fuels). The Welsh Assembly Government has indicated their support of biomass energy through their Energy Route Map. 

There is considerable potential for the growth of energy crops in Wales, and this was raised by the Welsh Energy Research Centre in the House of Commons – Welsh Affairs- Third report.