Biomass could significantly reduce

GLAND, Switzerland, 2004-06-02

(Refocus Weekly)

Greater use of biomass by developed nations could significantly reduce emissions of carbon dioxide, says a report by WWF and the European Biomass Association.

If OECD countries used fuel from agriculture and forest products instead of coal to generate electricity, CO2 emissions could be reduced by 1,000 million tonnes each year, equivalent to the combined annual emissions of Canada and Italy.

Biomass currently is used to generate 1% of electricity in industrialized nations, but this could reach 15% by 2020, enough for 100 million homes and equivalent to 400 traditional power stations. The increased consumption would require less than 2% of land and will not compete with food production or nature conservation.

In addition, increased production of biomass would create 400,000 jobs in rural areas.

Governments must develop and implement policies to increase the potential for renewables in power generation, and the report calls on industrialized countries to reform their agricultural policies to support production of energy crops for biomass. It further recommends that governments develop and enforce best practice guidelines for biomass production to minimize any negative social, economic or environmental impacts.

The two groups want a firm commitment from governments to increase the share of renewables at national and international levels and say the European Union must show global leadership by setting a target of 25% of primary energy from renewables by 2020.

“No doubt, the report sets an ambitious target for biomass use over the next 15 years, but there is a huge untapped biomass resource across Europe with potential for delivering sustainable energy on a wide scale,” says Jean Marc Jossart AEBIOM. “If governments and the power sector do not act now to encourage biomass as a long-term, stable, and secure option for renewable energy, they will lose out on a big opportunity to fight climate change and increase energy security.”

The target of 15% would require exploitation of one quarter of the potential collectable agricultural, forestry and livestock residues in industrialized countries, and dedication of 5% of crop, forest and woodland area to growing wood biomass for energy. With stronger energy savings and efficiency policies, the share of biomass for power could reach 30%, it adds.

Industrialized countries have 1,500 million hectares of crop, forest and woodland, of which 460 million hectares are cropland. The 15% target would require 1.25 million hectares of cropland each year to be converted to energy plantations, which represents 2% of the total land area in OECD nations.

The Organization for Economic Cooperation & Development consists of 30 countries, including most EU members, the U.S., Australia, Japan, Korea and Canada.

A 15% biomass target would result in a ten-fold increase in biomass electricity capacity by 2020 and 200 GW of new installed capacity. With average residential consumption of electricity in industrialized countries of 2 kW of power, 200 GW could supply power to 100 million homes.

The report was prepared by Imperial College London and E4tech (UK).

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