Electricity from biomass drops 15%, despite record high UK-grown bioenergy crops
Arable land used to grow bioenergy crops has hit a record high, but capacity issues saw the electricity generated from biomass fall 15% in a year, according to analysis of government data by waste-to-hydrogen company Compact Syngas Solutions.
Some 133,000 hectares of agricultural land were used to grow crops for bioenergy in 2023, a 39% rise on the 96,000 hectares used in 2019.
However, the amount of electricity generated from plant biomass fell from nearly six million tonnes of oil equivalent to 5.1 million tonnes in one year, a drop of 15%.
Maintenance outages at three large power stations are blamed for the fall, but experts warn that bottlenecks in the industry mean that alternative solutions are required.
More than a third (36%) of the land used for bioenergy crops was used for biofuels such as biodiesel and bioethanol.
In 2022, the UK produced a third (33%) of the bioethanol needed by the UK’s road transport market, and 31% of the biodiesel needed.
Compact Syngas Solutions, based in Deeside, Wales recently secured almost £4 million (€4.7 million) in government funding to make its biomass and waste-to-hydrogen plants even greener by using carbon capture.
CSS said it has developed an advanced gasification process that generates electricity, heat, and hydrogen gas from waste products, including biomass like waste wood and other selected non-recyclable materials.
The process also generates valuable biochar that has many applications and is a great way of sequestering carbon, it added.
Paul Willacy, managing director of Compact Syngas Solutions, said: “Bioenergy crops are a sustainable source of power, and can help the UK towards a green future with the right carbon capture in place.
“Capacity constraints may be limiting how much energy the UK is producing from bioenergy crops, and can result in a valuable source being wasted.
“Wasting bioenergy crops means we’re missing out on eco-friendly energy, and to add insult to injury, that material will release carbon dioxide and methane as it rots.
“Smaller waste-to-energy plants can play a part in increasing capacity, and a network of micro-hubs around the country would mean that crops can always find a home.”
Some 133,000 hectares of agricultural land were used to grow crops for bioenergy in 2023, a 39% rise on the 96,000 hectares used in 2019.
However, the amount of electricity generated from plant biomass fell from nearly six million tonnes of oil equivalent to 5.1 million tonnes in one year, a drop of 15%.
Maintenance outages at three large power stations are blamed for the fall, but experts warn that bottlenecks in the industry mean that alternative solutions are required.
More than a third (36%) of the land used for bioenergy crops was used for biofuels such as biodiesel and bioethanol.
In 2022, the UK produced a third (33%) of the bioethanol needed by the UK’s road transport market, and 31% of the biodiesel needed.
Compact Syngas Solutions, based in Deeside, Wales recently secured almost £4 million (€4.7 million) in government funding to make its biomass and waste-to-hydrogen plants even greener by using carbon capture.
CSS said it has developed an advanced gasification process that generates electricity, heat, and hydrogen gas from waste products, including biomass like waste wood and other selected non-recyclable materials.
The process also generates valuable biochar that has many applications and is a great way of sequestering carbon, it added.
Paul Willacy, managing director of Compact Syngas Solutions, said: “Bioenergy crops are a sustainable source of power, and can help the UK towards a green future with the right carbon capture in place.
“Capacity constraints may be limiting how much energy the UK is producing from bioenergy crops, and can result in a valuable source being wasted.
“Wasting bioenergy crops means we’re missing out on eco-friendly energy, and to add insult to injury, that material will release carbon dioxide and methane as it rots.
“Smaller waste-to-energy plants can play a part in increasing capacity, and a network of micro-hubs around the country would mean that crops can always find a home.”
