Are biofuels the best way of using biomass? Why not just use biomass to produce heat and power?
Our biomass resources are limited. We have calculated that in the UK, we can produce at least 14 million tonnes of biomass each year. This is enough to replace approximately:7% of our road transport fuel supply OR 7-9% of our electricity supply AND 6% of our space heating requirements (through combined heat and power) The yield of biomass from UK land is likely to increase. Increasing the yield of biomass can be achieved by: • increasing the land area used to produce crops • increasing the yield of existing crops • growing new types of crops that yield larger amounts of biomass • using new sources of biomass such as waste, marine biomass and crop residuesThe decision to use our UK biomass resources for electricity, heat or liquid fuels depends on economics and politics. We can import biomass feedstocks to produce more of these products. But it is unlikely that we will import sufficient biomass to replace all of our energy demands with biomass-based alternatives.
