Forest Research E.ON to lead ETI project on characterising UK grown bioenergy feedstocks

The Energy Technologies Institute (ETI) has announced that Forest Research and E.ON will deliver the latest project in its bioenergy programme – a study into the Characterisation of Feedstocks.

The project will provide an understanding of UK-produced “2nd generation” biomass properties (derived from plants and generated through photosynthesis), how these vary and relate this variability to the origins of the samples tested. It will involve the sampling of several types of biomass from across the UK under various planting, growing, harvesting and storage conditions. The results will be analysed to understand the scale of variation and what impacts different production and storage methods have on biomass properties.

Forest Research is one of the world’s leading centres of research into woodlands and forestry and an executive agency of the Forestry Commission conducting world-class scientific research and technical development relevant to forestry to support and inform the policies for sustainable forest management. E.ON UK is part of the E.ON group – one of the world’s largest investor-owned power and gas companies generating electricity and retailing power and gas.

Dr Geraint Evans, programme manager, Bioenergy at the ETI who is leading the project said:

“At the ETI we see bioenergy alongside carbon capture and storage as one of the biggest levers in any transition to a low carbon energy system. This project aims to build our knowledge base to increase our understanding of what is the best use of any sustainable feedstock produced in the UK at a system level.”

Dr Helen McKay, Head of Centre, Sustainable Forestry and Climate Change at Forest Research adds:

“This is an important area to understand. We have worked previously with the ETI on its ELUM project which has studied the impact of bioenergy crops on soil carbon levels and greenhouse gas emissions. The combined findings of our work on both projects will help the UK to gain a better understanding of biomass as a low carbon energy source and how it is best applied.”

Steve Croxton, Senior Technical Consultant for Bioenergy Crops at E.ON Technologies (Ratcliffe) Ltd commented:

“Improving the understanding of sustainably grown domestic biomass could provide up to 10% of UK energy needs by 2050 and is therefore an exciting prospect. E.ON is committed to both working with and supporting this project, which will help to build an evidence base for the greater use of biomass in UK energy production.”