Out-Law News 2 min. read
27 Aug 2013, 11:25 am
It plans to introduce new requirements such as sustainable wood harvesting rates, biodiversity protection and land use rights for indigenous populations on sites where materials are harvested for use in biomass generators.
Energy Minister Greg Barker said that if the biomass industry adopted the new criteria, electricity generated in this way would reduce greenhouse gas emissions compared to fossil fuel alternatives by over 70%.
"The Coalition is committed to delivering clean, affordable and secure energy for consumers," he said. "This includes an important role for biomass power as part of the UK's energy mix. The new criteria will provide the necessary investors certainty and, crucially, ensure that the biomass is delivered in a transparent and sustainable way."
The Government said that no changes would be made to the criteria before April 2027 to "provide the certainty that investors and developers need".
The new requirements will apply to those using solid biomass or biogas feedstocks in generation plant of 1MW capacity or more - around 98% of all biomass power generation in the UK, according to Government figures. Such generators will also be required to provide an independent sustainability audit alongside the annual sustainability report that they are currently required to submit. Smaller generators will be required to report against the criteria but will not need to comply with it, and microgenerators below 50kW capacity will be exempt.
Biomass consists of crops, trees and organic materials, including organic wastes, which can be harvested to provide heat, make fuel and generate electricity. The UK biomass industry is worth £1 billion, supports over 3,000 jobs and accounts for around 38% of the country's renewable energy generation, according to the Government.
Energy and environmental law expert Fiona Ross of Pinsent Masons, the law firm behind Out-Law.com, said that once the new regime was in force, those using solid biomass fuels would have to meet specific sustainability criteria relating to greenhouse gas emissions and land use change in order to obtain RO support for the first time.
"Those using solid biomass are currently required to report on feedstock sustainability, but support under the RO is not currently contingent on compliance with specific criteria in the same way as it is in relation to bioliquids," she said.
"The Renewable Energy Directive only requires compliance with sustainability criteria for biofuels and bioliquids, and there are no EU-wide requirements for solid biomass sustainability. The European Commission considered the introduction of criteria for solid biomass in 2009, and adopted a report in 2010 providing recommendations for member states wishing to adopt sustainability criteria for solid biomass, with the intention of ensuring that individual approaches do not hinder the EU-wide market for biomass as a fuel," she said.
The criteria proposed by the Government will be based on the UK Timber Procurement Policy Principles, it said. Different criteria will apply depending on when the plant was accredited for RO support, according to a Government policy document (53-page / 556KB PDF). Waste biomass feedstocks will not be subject to the requirements in recognition of their "inherently sustainable nature over virgin biomass materials", Ross said.
The Government announced in December that it would cap subsidies for dedicated biomass once 400MW of generating capacity was built or accredited under the RO. Places within that cap will be allocated using a notification process, as consulted on earlier this year. Projects that reached financial close by 20 August are being treated as 'priority' projects by the Government, and may now apply for a place within the cap. Other projects will be able to apply from 11 September onwards.
