Biomass Energy in England

I must apologise for the general lack of posts during the last month. I have been contributing to the UK Government's response to the Report of Sir Ben Gill's Biomass Task Force. As we approached the launch date things got more and more intense as we finished the last few details and sent the document to various government ministers for approval (a task made more difficult by the Easter holiday). Finally we launched the response at the end of April and it can be down-loaded here.

The key points in the Response are:

• A new five year capital grant scheme for biomass boilers, with funding of £10 - £15 million over the first two years
• Agreement in principle to support for energy crops under the new Rural Development Programme for England to be introduced in 2007, closely integrated with bioenergy market development;
• The Forestry Commission’s new Biomass Energy Centre to be a major new hub for bioenergy advice and best practice for industry and the public;
• Further measures to integrate environmental assessment in the planning of energy crop development;
• Government leadership through public procurement, including the potential use of biomass across the Government estate;
• Working with Regional Development Agencies (RDAs) and other organisations to ensure effective, coordinated mechanisms for delivery of policy and advice on biomass energy;
• Action, (already taken), to improve the Renewables Obligation and implementation of the associated procedures;
• Use of the planning system to stimulate renewables development, including government support for planning authorities applying a minimum percentage of renewable energy in new developments;
• Action to address regulatory barriers identified by the Task Force and to develop standards to improve efficacy and confidence in biomass;
• New Building Regulations with tougher standards to encourage the use of Low or Zero Carbon (LZC) systems, such as biomass;
• Government thinking on the use of energy from waste, subject to conclusions from the current review of Waste Strategy and the Energy Review; and
• Support for the EU Biomass Action Plan and agreement on UK membership of the Global Bioenergy Partnership from its launch in May 2006.

The action plan set out in this response will be implemented and a long-term UK-wide Biomass Strategy will be developed within a year.