果冻影院

Recent news coverage around the聽聽and the聽聽have brought聽bioenergy聽to the聽forefront of public debate. But the topic聽is far from new. It聽has been discussed in the UK, Europe and globally for many years.听

Modern bioenergy can provide low-carbon electricity, biogas, liquid transport fuels and hydrogen. In some cases, it can even remove carbon from the atmosphere if combined with聽carbon capture and storage聽(CCS). It is now increasingly argued that this will be vital for addressing the climate crisis, a statement that continues to raise concern. One reason聽is that聽bioenergy supply chains聽are complex聽鈥撀爏tretching from聽areas of聽biomass production, through processing and conversion to power and fuels,聽and聽CCS.听Poor聽planning聽along these chains聽can lead to emissions聽that聽partly or fully聽negate the聽carbon聽originally聽captured by the聽plants. Another is that the business practices involved can cause negative impacts on communities and biodiversity.听聽

Because聽bioenergy聽systems are complex,聽interdisciplinary research聽鈥撀燼聽key strength of ISR聽鈥撀爄s vital.

ISR has researched bioenergy since the institute was聽established.听At that time, conversations聽centred on EU mandates聽for聽biofuel blending in transport fuels. But the discussion was restricted:聽it聽privileged certain types of knowledge (i.e. technical assessments) and narrowed the framing of important topics, such as biomass sustainability, to focus聽solely聽on unforeseen carbon emissions. This聽affected聽the political debate, overlooking the social impacts that rapidly expanding biofuel production could have on local communities around the world.听聽

To shine light on this issue,聽滨厂搁听谤别蝉别补谤肠丑聽focused on聽first-generation biofuel聽producer countries such as Brazil, Guatemala and Mozambique, and assessed livelihood and community impacts of growing聽demand. This聽evidence on environmental and social impacts raised awareness, highlighting the consequences that聽鈥渓and grabs鈥� and聽changes to land use could have for local communities.听聽

This聽issue聽remains聽highly relevant聽and advanced uses of biomass risk repeating similar聽mistakes聽if we do not learn from聽earlier聽experience.听To聽address聽these risks,聽ISR researchers,聽together with聽the聽果冻影院聽Energy and Development Group,听谤别肠别苍迟濒测听辫耻产濒颈蝉丑别诲听补听.听

Advanced biomass solutions聽are聽increasingly聽represented聽in聽techno-economic models which underpin聽national energy strategies. Running these models is聽a key component of聽research at ISR聽and the institute has worked to understand the role these options can play in reaching our national climate targets. We look at optimistic or precautionary assumptions of biomass availability, technology progress, or carbon content. One repeat focus has highlighted the risks involved in high reliance on聽bioenergy with carbon capture and storage (BECCS)聽for the UK.听A聽recent ISR report聽highlighted that聽in order to reduce the pressure on developing BECCS at scale, policy incentives should聽focus on reducing energy demand though efficiency measures and聽support a diverse range of removal options. Recognising the complexity of BECCS supply chains, policy聽support should be incremental and conditional, and subject to rigorous evaluation and performance review.听聽

Overall, this聽extensive聽bioenergy and modelling聽expertise聽has positioned聽the institute聽as聽a trusted partner to UK policy decision making.听Researchers at the ISR聽now聽collaborate regularly聽with the BEIS Central Modelling Team. In 2020,聽the ISR聽seconded energy modelling expertise聽to the Department to co-develop the bioenergy sector of the聽UK TIMES聽tool聽used聽for聽Carbon Budget 6 analysis.听In July 2021, the institute drew聽together聽the聽social and technical perspectives to produce its聽response to聽the government鈥檚 bioenergy consultation. This highlighted聽that for a sustainable scale-up of bioenergy聽in聽the聽UK, it is key聽to聽prioritise聽social justice and land use.听In the face of changing climate, it is paramount to prioritise聽solutions which enhance ecosystems, promote sustainable livelihoods聽and聽support聽resilience of natural environments.听Accepting that biomass聽is a scarce resource, it聽should only be used in applications which sequester carbon in the long term, or where there are few low carbon alternatives.听

Some of the above recommendations are聽being聽taken forward into a new聽UK聽greenhouse gas removal (GGR)聽hub,聽CO2RE Hub, dedicated聽to investigating routes of sustainable scale up of聽GGR聽options聽in the UK.听ISR researchers are聽coordinating the development of a multi-disciplinary GGR evaluation聽framework,聽drawing the latest science from teams across the聽CO2RE Hub,聽UK and abroad,聽GGR Demonstrators, and feedback from a wide group of stakeholders, including the聽general public.听The evaluation framework will develop聽robust and聽harmonised criteria for assessing the removal provided by different GGRs at different scales, also characterising the permanence of that removal and trade-offs with social and environmental goals, and policies and聽regulations聽which need to be developed to聽foster sustainable GGR scale-up in the UK.听聽

Excitingly,聽much聽more research is ongoing and further ideas are brewing.听It is vital to ensure聽we make robust decisions about聽the potential for biomass to sustainably lower our emissions.听Important questions remain, such as how聽to聽represent the聽complexity of the carbon cycle in聽our聽long-term energy models聽to include聽the impact of carbon debt? How do we broaden our understanding of what 鈥渟ustainable鈥� means to place global social聽justice and land governance front and centre, and how do we embed these in policy? What about permanence of carbon storage in natural systems as the climate changes? These are questions the ISR is working hard to answer 鈥� watch this space!聽

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