Life cycle impacts of biomass electricity in 2020
The potential availability of North American biomass feedstocks for electricity in the UK in 2020 is investigated, along with associated greenhouse gas intensities and energy requirements.
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Bioenergy is expected to contribute significantly to the UK’s renewable energy and carbon targets in the future. However, bioenergy is a complex scientific topic and there remains uncertainty associated with the actual carbon impacts of different biomass feedstocks. The UK government is therefore committed to continually updating our evidence base to stay on top of the science. One area that has been identified as requiring further work is the impact of bioenergy on forest carbon stocks.
The Biomass Emissions and Counterfactual (BEAC) model and report have therefore been developed to address the need for further analysis associated with bioenergy greenhouse gas intensities. The work assesses the potential availability of different North American biomass feedstocks in 2020, along with their greenhouse gas intensities and energy input requirements when used for electricity generation in the UK.