The U.K. government on Aug. 10 released its long-awaited Biomass Strategy, which describes the steps the government intends to take to strengthen biomass sustainability. It also disucsses how sustainable biomass can be used to meet the U.K.’s net-zero goals.
The U.K. government first announced plans to publish a Biomass Strategy in October 2020 and published a policy statement in November 2021 that provided an early indication of the priorities and intentions for biomass use ahead of the release of a full Biomass Strategy, which was at that time planned for release in 2022.
According to the U.K. Department for Energy Security and Net Zero (DESNZ), the Biomass Strategy builds off the 2021 policy statement as well as the Power up Britain strategy, which was released in March 2023 and emphasized the important role that biomass would play in Britain’s fully
decarbonized power system by 2035, subject to security of supply.
The DESNZ said the Biomass Strategy sets out steps government intends to take to strengthen biomass sustainability and the opportunities for the use of sustainable biomass across multiple sectors of the economy in support of achieving the U.K.’s net zero target.
In addition to reiterating the U.K. government’s commitment to biomass sustainability, the strategy also reviews the potential future availability of sustainable biomass to the U.K. and considers how biomass should be prioritized strategically across the economy to help achieve the country’s net-zero target as well as wider environmental and energy security commitments.
According to the Biomass Strategy, the U.K. currently sources 66 percent of the total biomass used in renewable energy generation from domestic sources. The balance is imported from international sources.
With regard to how biomass use is prioritized, the Biomass Strategy sets out short-term, medium-term and long-term goals. In the short term, defined as the 2020s, the government will continue to facilitate sustainable biomass deployment through a range of incentives and requirements covering power, heat and transport. In the medium term, defined as through 2035, the government intends to further develop biomass uses in power, heat and transport sectors to support the delivery of the U.K.’s sixth carbon budget with a specific goal to transition away from unabated emission uses of biomass where possible and implement bioenergy with carbon capture and storage (BECCS) where possible. The government said biomass use in the long term, through 2050, is difficult to predict due to wide-ranging uncertainties and evidence gaps. “Current modeling indicates that biomass use combined with BECCS for power, heat and transport contribute the most toward net zero,” the DESNZ said in the Biomass Strategy, noting that emerging bioeconomy products and markets beyond energy will continue to be reviewed. “Based on current analysis, the strategy sets out that biomass uses that can produce negative emissions (i.e., those that capture and store CO2) should be prioritized in the long term to support U.K.’s net zero target,” the DESNZ continued. “Biomass could still play a role in hard to decarbonize sectors that may not be able to universally deploy BECCS but have limited alternatives. However, relative demand is expected to be lower than BECCS usage. New or existing biomass applications should therefore consider options and routes to deploy BECCS at their facilities in the longer-term.”
In conjunction with the Biomass Strategy, the U.K. government also published a report led by the DESNZ Chief Science Advisory’s Task and Finish Group, which aimed to set out an evidence-based position on the validity of BECCS as a greenhouse gas removal (GGR) option to deliver negative emissions. According to that report, well regulated BECCS can achieve its objective to deliver negative emissions and ensure positive outcomes for the people, the environment and the climate.
Within the report, the DESNZ reviews the U.K.’s current biomass sustainability requirement and outlines several actions it says could strengthen the country’s biomass sustainability criteria. These actions include developing and implementing a cross-sectoral sustainable framework for biomass; encouraging best practices alongside common minimum requirements in the cross-sectoral sustainability framework; implementing a common greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions calculation methodology for biomass supply chains with comparable units within the cross-sectoral sustainability framework; including indirect land use change (ILUC) in the cross-sectoral sustainability framework based on up-to-date scientific evidence on ILUC; exploring practicalities of accounting for soil carbon changes based on up-to-date scientific evidence; where not already mandatory, requiring biomass users to ensure 100 percent of wood biomass feedstocks used in their operations to be proven sustainable, either via a certification scheme, national schemes that demonstrate compliance, or by collection of bespoke data by the supplier; implementing the same definitions for sustainable feedstocks where possible to increase alignment across sectors; implementing requirements related to protecting, maintaining, and enhancing biodiversity within a cross-sectoral common sustainability framework, building on requirements within current support schemes and based on scientific evidence; including requirements that explicitly protect ecosystem services within a cross-sectoral biomass sustainability framework; including land and labor rights, health and safety of workers, and community welfare in a cross-sectoral sustainable framework and aligning with principles in internationally recognized agreements or conventions; and introducing new criteria within the cross-sectoral sustainability framework and associated governance as biomass feedstock technologies evolve and new ones emerge to ensure continued delivery towards climate and environmental goals. The DESNZ said it plans to develop a public consultation related to these actions. That public consultation is expected to be published in 2024.
Drax Group plc said the Biomass Strategy is highly supportive of biomass and shows a priority role for BECCS. "We welcome the government's clear support for sustainably sourced biomass and the critical role that BECCS can play in achieving the country's climate goals,” said Will Gardiner, CEO of Drax.
"The inclusion of BECCS at the top of a priority use framework is a clear signal that the U.K. wants to be a leader in carbon removals and Drax is ready to deliver on this ambition,” he added. “We are engaged in formal discussions with the government about the project and, providing these are successful, we plan to invest billions in delivering BECCS at Drax Power Station in North Yorkshire, simultaneously providing reliable, renewable power and carbon removals.
"We look forward to working alongside the government to ensure biomass is best used to contribute to net zero across the economy, through further progression of plans for BECCS and ensuring an evidence-driven, best practice approach to sustainability,” Gardiner continued.
The U.K. Association for Renewable Energy and Clean Technology (REA) is also welcoming release of the Biomass Strategy, noting it underlines the vital role of bioenergy in delivering energy security and reaching net-zero goals.
“The Biomass Strategy is highly welcome and shows the government’s commitment to the vital role of sustainable biomass in delivering energy security and Net Zero,” said Nina Skorupska, chief executive of the REA.
“Bioenergy is the U.K.’s largest source of renewable energy across power, heat and transport and the Biomass Strategy provides important confidence to these established low-carbon industries, maintaining skills, supply chains and jobs,” she said.
“In a context of increasing international competition for the green industries of the future, the Biomass Strategy provides certainty which will help drive investment in strategically important innovations including bioenergy carbon capture and storage (BECCS), sustainable aviation fuels and bio-hydrogen production pathways,” Skorupska added.
“The U.K. is a world-leader in sustainable bioenergy, but urgent policy action is needed to realize opportunities across the sector,” she continued. “The REA welcomes and will fully engage in the upcoming consultation on a cross sector sustainability framework, ensuring sustainability governance arrangements remain world leading. Government must build on the Biomass Strategy to bring forward workable business models at all scales for critical Net Zero technologies such as BECCS; increase the ambition for bio-based heat and transport decarbonization; as well as further supporting the scale up of innovative biomass feedstocks such as perennial energy crops.
“Biomass is one of our most versatile tools for tackling climate change, and we look forward to engaging further with government as policy continues to develop for these crucial technologies,” Skorupska said.
Additional information, including a full copy of the Biomass Strategy, is available on the DESNZ website.
