Three new bio energy projects by the Energy Technologies Institute (ETI), valued at £4.57 million, are looking to:
• Establish an in-depth field trial to study ecosystem and sustainability when converting land to bio energy crop production;
• Explore at an engineering level, the cost-effectiveness, technology challenges and technology developments required for biomass to power combined with Carbon Capture and Storage (CCS);
• Explore the key challenges in developing sustainable UK bio energy supply chains for heat, power, and transport fuels production and consider the best use of UK biomass from an energy security, affordability and GHG reduction perspective.
These projects bring together leading capabilities in the UK and from Europe in agro economics and crop modelling; technology assessment and development, as well as advanced economic and technology modelling.
The projects will build on the high-quality work already delivered by the UK academic sector in projects such as the TSEC Biosys Project2 and the SuperGen Bio-Energy projects3, as well as leverage the work of the BBSRC Sustainable Biology Centre, the NERC Land Based Renewables programme, the Carbon Trust, the Department of Energy and Climate Change, the Department for the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, Forestry Commission and Forest Research, the NFU and the NNFCC and others in the bio energy community; adding both an industrial and commercial edge to bio energy modelling. The UK Gallagher Review4 on Indirect Effects of Bio-fuels sector in 2008 highlighted that due to uncertainties in measuring and monitoring the CO2 life cycle for bio-fuels (due to direct and indirect land-use changes), the UK will need to be more cautious in its progress towards bio-fuels. Globally, land-use change accounts for more than 20% of annual CO2 emissions.
The projects will analyse a wide range of biomass crops and energy conversion technologies to inform the development and deployment of effective bio energy solutions, and will also guide the ETI’s Bio energy programme strategy and help inform the UK benefits case for the sector.