Calls to double bioenergy use by 2032

More than doubling the amount of bioenergy could help plug the looming supply gap resulting from the collapse of the nuclear new-build programme, ministers have been told.

In a new report, the Renewable Energy Association (REA) has called on ministers to set a target that 16 per cent of the UK’s primary energy supply should come from bioenergy by 2032.

This is just over double the 7.4 per cent of the UK’s primary energy supply currently met from bioenergy sources, such as wood and food waste.

This increase in bioenergy’s contribution is required in order to meet growing demand for electricity across heat, power and transport without jeopardising the UK’s energy security.

The increase recommended in the report, which is the final instalment in the REA’s Bioenergy Strategy, would deliver a further 117 TWh across heat and power while removing 80 million tonnes of CO2 from the atmosphere annually.

It says that electricity generated in bioenergy plants is a cheaper low-carbon option than nuclear and can be built more quickly while avoiding the long-term sustainability issues associated with storing atomic waste.

The report also says bioelectricity generation can be linked to carbon capture and use or storage (CCUS) to provide a “negative emissions” technology.

A two-and-a-half times increase in bioenergy can be achieved sustainably by making full use of food and other plant wastes as well as by giving landowners an incentive to plant and manage woodland and high energy crops, like miscanthus.

The strategy’s key recommendations include an obligation on gas suppliers to blend in a minimum amount of renewable gas and urgently renewing support for renewable heat when the Renewable Heat Incentive scheme, which currently supports technologies like biomass boilers and anaerobic digestion, comes to an end in 2021.

The REA also calls for an extension of Contracts for Difference style auctions, which have been instrumental in the establishment of the offshore wind sector, to kick-start the market for CCUS.

And it urges a progressive increase in carbon prices to more than £120 per tonne by 2032.

According to the strategy, these new policies are required because many of the measures that helped establish the UK’s bioenergy sector have now lapsed, been cut or are insufficiently ambitious.

Dr Adam Brown, author of the Bioenergy Strategy report, said: “As we move to a more flexible and decentralised energy system, the role of bioenergy is vital; accommodating for the dispatchable energy required to moderate growing electricity demand and offering immediate and affordable solutions for the decarbonisation of hard to treat areas like heat and transport.

“Without bioenergy, the UK risks missing its legally binding net-zero targets and falling victim to the looming nuclear gap. The policy gap facing the bioenergy sector must be addressed in order to maintain the UK’s energy security and capitalise on the opportunities the sector presents.”