Strategic Context
Domestic biomass, sustainably grown in the UK, could provide up to 10% of the UK’s energy needs by 2050 and significantly contribute to the reduction of greenhouse gas emissions.
Programme Aim
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Develop an understanding and assessment of the economic value chains and carbon impact of sustainably developing UK biomass resources and converting these to various energy vectors.
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Assess the landscape and opportunity for meaningful technology acceleration and demonstration; and to set the ground work for a technology demonstration project for the UK in 2012.
The ETI has worked with a number of key stakeholders in the UK to commission three feasibility projects in the areas of biomass value chain and conversion; an engineering study on biomass to power with carbon capture and storage; and studying the impact of bioenergy crop land use changes on soil carbon stocks and greenhouse gas emissions.
Project summaries
Please click the following projects below for detail:
Ecosystem Land-Use Modelling (ELUM)
Completion date
Summer 2014
Project Partners
- CEH - Centre for Ecology & Hydrology
- Aberystwyth University
- Forest Research
- University of Aberdeen
- The University of Edinburgh
- University of Southampton
- The University of York
Overview
This trial is studying the impact of bioenergy crop land-use changes on soil carbon stocks and greenhouse gas emissions. It will develop a model to quantitatively assess changes in levels of carbon, nitrogen and water in soil, combined with the greenhouse gas flux which results from the conversion of land to bioenergy crop production. Categorisation and mapping of this data using Geographic Information Systems will allow recommendations on the most environmentally efficient agricultural and crop management techniques for bioenergy crop scenarios to be developed.
Biomass to Power with Carbon Capture
Storage (CCS) Flexible Research
Completion date
Winter 2012
Project Partners
- CMCL Innovations
- University of Cambridge
- Doosan
- Drax
- EDF Energy
- E4 Tech
- Imperial College London
- University of Leeds
Overview
This project is looking to drive a high-level engineering study on biomass to power with CCS as a combined technology, assess the technology gaps, and the likely time-scales for implementation. Biomass conversion to power combined with CCS could provide the UK with substantial net negative CO2 emissions, with the potential to remove 50 to 100 Megatonnes of CO2 from the atmosphere on an annual basis (depending on capture rates).
Biomass Systems Value Chain Modelling Flexible Research
Completion date
Winter 2012
Project Partners
- Agra CEAS
- EDF Energy
- EIFER
- E4tech
- Forest Research
- Imperial College London
- Rothamsted Research
- University of Southampton
Overview
This project is developing a model linking bioenergy crop growth with technology options for logistics, pre-processing and final use as heat, power or transport fuel. It is developing a value chain optimisation framework and is looking at the economic and carbon impact of sustainably developing UK biomass resources whilst converting these to various energy vectors. It is also considering the relevant agronomic, technoeconomic and geographic factors associated with the cultivation, collection, processing, transmission and distribution of biomass.
Energy from Waste
Date announced
September 2009
Completion date
Summer 2011
Project Partners
- Caterpillar
- EDF Energy
- Cranfield University
- CPI
- Shanks Waste Solutions
Overview
Generating more energy from waste will reduce the amount of material sent to landfill sites, provide the opportunity to generate electricity and heat at a local level, and contribute to the reduction of CO2 and greenhouse gas emissions.
Energy from Waste represents an opportunity to produce clean, renewable energy from local sources that were previously destined for landfill sites. This project profiled the waste streams in the UK, the potential energy available from them and how this may change in the future. In addition the project evaluated different conversion technologies to extract the energy from key waste streams. The project has identified a significant technology development opportunity in the area of gasification and gas clean up, to this end this ETI is now funding a demonstration project in this area.
