The RSPB has just issued a report, ’Bioenergy:- A burning issue’. In the report the RSPB highlight the issue of increased electricity generation using Biomass fuel and state that the total number of Biomass generation plants is set to increase from 31 to 70 in the near future taking the wood consumption from 5 million tonnes to 50 million tonnes.
The RSPB are concerned that the increasing number of Biomass plants will require up to 33 million tonnes of wood fuel to be imported and brings into question the sustainability of this method of electricity generation. They state that ‘Flawed international carbon accounting rules mean the UK Government will not have to declare emissions from biomass when it is burnt in power stations – and neither will logging countries like the US which have not signed up to the Kyoto agreement.’
They are calling on the Government to lay out sustainability rules on the imports of wood as a source of fuel and prioritise the reclaiming and usage of the 6 million tonnes of waste wood that currently goes to landfill in the UK.
They also highlight the need to move towards better management and utilisation of the UK’s forestry, which could provide valuable wood fuel and decrease the need for imports. Although Biomass is classed as a carbon neutral form of electricity generation, this is only when the biomass combusted is accounted for and re-grown accordingly.
The use of Biomass for the generation of electricity is crucial to the UK’s commitments to reduce carbon emissions. The RSPB report highlights the necessity for the Government to ensure that Biomass generation delivers the well managed carbon neutrality that is expected.