Short rotation energy crops planted on unused agricultural land could provide a viable route to meeting renewable energy targets without disrupting food production or the environment.
UKERC researcher and Professor of Plant Biology from the University of Southampton, Gail Taylor;
UK has targets for a 15% renewable energy by 2020 and bioenergy is expected to play a major role. At present bioenergy represents is less than 0.1% of energy in the UK and attempts to increase it have resulted in competition with food production. For bioenergy to grow, it is necessary to assess the UK’s capacity as a whole for producing biofeedstock.
The UK Energy Research Centre (UKERC) has been studying the potential of short rotation crops,such as coppiced poplar and willow for bioenergy with the University of Southampton. These coppiced crops grow over the year, are cut back and allowed to regrow with the biomass harvested being used for energy or potentially for biobased chemical production. Researchers took social, environmental and economic limitations into account; land use restrictions are in place in the UK to preserve the countryside and residents often object to protected land being developed.
The study found that with efficient land use, 4% of the UK’s total electricity demand can be met with biomass grown on marginal land, bioenergy plants and lignocellulosic biotechnology. Of the land in the UK, 61% could potentially be planted with these energy crops. A number of conditions were placed on biomass production for the study; the planted crops must not have an impact on “ecosystem services”, must not conflict with food production, must not displace land that is currently saving GHG emissions and must be profitable. Realistically, the study found that 7.5 million tons of biomass could be produced this way.
UKERC researcher and Professor of Plant Biology from the University of Southampton, Gail Taylor;
"This study shows that bioenergy crops can be grown sustainably in parts of England, with no detrimental impact on food crops or other ecosystem services. Our current work is taking this approach further to determine how future climate scenarios will influence biomass supply."
UK has targets for a 15% renewable energy by 2020 and bioenergy is expected to play a major role. At present bioenergy represents is less than 0.1% of energy in the UK and attempts to increase it have resulted in competition with food production. For bioenergy to grow, it is necessary to assess the UK’s capacity as a whole for producing biofeedstock.
The UK Energy Research Centre (UKERC) has been studying the potential of short rotation crops,such as coppiced poplar and willow for bioenergy with the University of Southampton. These coppiced crops grow over the year, are cut back and allowed to regrow with the biomass harvested being used for energy or potentially for biobased chemical production. Researchers took social, environmental and economic limitations into account; land use restrictions are in place in the UK to preserve the countryside and residents often object to protected land being developed.
The study found that with efficient land use, 4% of the UK’s total electricity demand can be met with biomass grown on marginal land, bioenergy plants and lignocellulosic biotechnology. Of the land in the UK, 61% could potentially be planted with these energy crops. A number of conditions were placed on biomass production for the study; the planted crops must not have an impact on “ecosystem services”, must not conflict with food production, must not displace land that is currently saving GHG emissions and must be profitable. Realistically, the study found that 7.5 million tons of biomass could be produced this way.
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