Representatives from the UK Pellet Council and Biomass Heat Works! are urging companies, employees and those associated with the country’s biomass heat sector, whether as supply chain operators, logistics engineers or consumers for example, to make their voices heard by putting forward evidence to reaffirm the positive role biomass should play in future heat decarbonization policy.
The strategy demonstrates that the use of bioenergy is a key factor in carbon reduction measures and recognizes that biomass has played a prominent role, with the capacity for further savings and reductions in fossil fuel emissions.
This is especially true for rural and off-grid areas where electrification technologies such as air source heat pumps are unworkable in older buildings without significant upgrade to the network infrastructure costing billions of pounds or expensive, household energy efficiency improvements.
However, the Call for Evidence now published by BEIS (Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy) is set to examine how and where sustainable biomass should/can be best used in order to meet net zero targets.
Rupert Ralston of the UK Pellet Council explained, “We very much welcome the Government’s publication of the call for evidence and ask that the UK’s biomass heat industry gets fullybehind shaping future heat decarbonization strategy. We have seen over recent weeks post RHI, reports of consumers returning to fossil fuel systems or replacing old gas and oil boilers like for like, therefore we must demonstrate that biomass has an integral part to play in net zero policy and must be funded accordingly to help people switch to renewable energy.
“Biomass has been the most proven technology over the last decade, and is often the most suited or cost-effective solution for older properties, especially the many thousands of homes located in rural communities. Government cannot afford to overlook its importance or focus solely on other solutions for short-term gain, especially those in their infancy or lacking supply chain infrastructures while continuing to subsidize fossil fuel use. We welcome the opportunity to submit our evidence and work closely with BEIS ministers and officials to shape a more workable heat decarbonization policy in the run up to COP26.”
