National Policy the present and future role of Biomass within the UK energy policy Caroline Season

Transcription

1 National Policy the present and future role of Biomass within the UK energy policy Caroline Season Senior Policy Adviser, Biomass Sustainability Department of Energy & Climate Change, 3 Whitehall Place, London SW1 caroline.season@decc.gsi.gov.uk ; telephone: +44 (20) Monday 1 st October 2012

2 Agenda Overview of the UK & EU climate and energy policy Stern review (2006) EU Renewable Energy Directive (2009) Achieving the UK s15% target role for biomass Renewables Roadmap and UK Bioenergy Strategy Importance of sustainability Financial incentives RO, RHI and FITS Role of Bioenergy looking to 2050

3 The UK situation 60 million people and growing 244K sq km under ½ size of France 245 people per sq km 76% of land farming & 12% forest cover 1990 UK energy market privatised Dash for gas decarbonises the UK electricity supply to 430 kg CO2/MWh >80% use gas from UK grid for heating UK achieves large carbon reductions with a highly centralised energy supply but low renewables (under 2% of energy) But declining North Sea output means oil/gas imports are increasing And many of our coal power stations are due to close by 2015 so energy security issues

4 Stern Review The economics of climate change, October 2006

5 EU Renewable Energy Directive (2009)

6 UK lead scenario for 15%

7 Why so much biomass? Can be lower cost than other renewable power sources, built on existing infrastructure and protect existing jobs Hugely versatile - can provide base or peak load electricity; or controllable heat generation; or to make transport fuels Biomass power is dispatchable can be turned off & on, up & down, to match supply with demand; natural partner to wind and other variable sources Biomass feedstocks can be sourced from a diverse range of plant and animal materials (both domestic and imports), and converted to energy using a wide range of centralised and decentralised technologies Greater diversity means greater security, particular when using domestic feedstocks including wastes Generates business/job opportunities across supply-chain

8 UK Renewables Roadmap Renewable Energy Roadmap (2011) sets out a comprehensive action plan to accelerate deployment and place us on the path to achieve our 2020 renewables target, while driving down costs over time. Identifies biomass electricity and biomass heat as 2 of the 8 key technologies that are collectively capable of delivering over 90% of the energy needed to meet our 2020 target Details UK progress to date and future actions to address barriers including: Investor certainty & confidence Supply-chain development Planning Sustainability Updated Roadmap due this autumn

9 UK Bioenergy Strategy (2012) Sets an agreed framework for Government to help deliver the benefits from bioenergy and minimising risks Four principles for bioenergy policymakers: Genuine GHG savings compared to fossil use Cost effective in context of overall energy goals Maximise benefits and minimise costs across economy Monitor key impacts such as food security, biodiversity Four priority pathways for the use of biomass including Uses of wastes for heat, electricity and CHP Use of biomass to replace existing coal power Use of biomass for heating buildings & industry Development of advanced biofuels for transport

10 B I O E N E R G Y F O S S I L

11 Three financial incentives Feed-in tariffs FITs (AD electricity generation under 5MW) from 2009 Renewables Obligation RO (Large power) from 2002 Renewable Heat Incentive RHI from % renewables in 2020, increased energy security, new green businesses and employment, and 80% carbon reductions by 2050

12 Renewables Obligation e.g. RWE Npower, Centrica, Scottish Power etc.

13 Renewables Obligation Market mechanism based on tradeable certificates Provides support to renewable electricity, including dedicated biomass power/chp, fossil to biomass conversions, co-firing and EfW CHP Support levels are set considering levelised costs, so higher cost, emerging technologies receive more support than mature/established where costs have fallen In April 2013 we are introducing new specific bands to support biomass conversions and enhanced co-firing We are currently consulting on biomass RO proposals to deliver stability, certainty and sustainability

14 Renewable Heat Incentive Simple tariff scheme per MWth generated Industrial and commercial RHI launched in November 2011 Provides support to biomass boilers, biomass combined heat and power (CHP) (and heat pumps) Consulting on introducing a specific tariff for CHP of 4.1p/kWth And increasing the range of waste feedstocks eligible for support And proposals for the introduction of a domestic RHI scheme for householders

15 UK sustainability criteria UK approach informed by the EU Renewable Energy Directive (RED) and the EU February 2010 report on the sustainability criteria for solid and gaseous biomass Three key elements GHG lifecycle assessment target to ensure genuine savings relative to fossil fuel use Land Criteria to protect land with high biodiversity and/or carbon sink value General profiling data including biomass type, amount, format, country of origin, whether waste Currently consulting on improvements including sustainable forest management and investor certainty

16 Carbon Budget to 2050 DECC s 2050 Pathways analysis projects that if bio-energy is excluded, it is almost impossible to reach 2050 targets without other sectors needing to act at the extreme end of technical potential.

17 National Policy the present and future role of Biomass within the UK energy policy Caroline Season Senior Policy Adviser, Biomass Sustainability Department of Energy & Climate Change, 3 Whitehall Place, London SW1 caroline.season@decc.gsi.gov.uk ; telephone: +44 (20) Monday 1 st October 2012