EA Biomass report - NFU comment
15 April 2009
The NFU has commented on an Environment Agency report which acknowledges biomass can do the environment more harm than good under some circumstances.
At a meeting next week, the agency is expected to hear that while it has the potential to play a major role in producing low-carbon renewable energy, biomass power can result in increased greenhouse gas emissions, especially if energy crops are planted on permanent grassland.
NFU comment
"The UK has to meet mandatory renewable energy targets and also our own greenhouse gas reduction targets. Biomass for energy will need to play a pivotal role in ensuring we achieve both these aims. Although it is important to highlight the potential limitations, we should not avoid the much needed policy and market development to help development of sustainable biomass for energy as part of the move to a low carbon economy.
"Biomass has significant potential for providing the energy of the future, whether from dedicated crops, utilisation of agricultural by-products, forestry or municipal solid waste. Using renewable biomass as a feedstock for energy reduces our dependence on fossil fuels, reduces our greenhouse gas emissions, and can help create jobs in a new green economy.
"We must remember that fossil fuels are not sustainable in any way. They are finite and increase carbon in atmosphere and they will come from increasingly energy intensive and ecologically damaging sources. The NFU has lobbied persistently for practicable carbon and sustainability standards for biofuels in the UK Renewable Transport Fuels Obligation and the EU Renewable Energy Directive, and is now engaged in the development of similar standards for all bioenergy feedstocks."
No comments have been made.