In a letter sent to BEIS ahead of the launch of the department’s biomass strategy, the WRA highlighted the sector’s importance in providing renewable and reliable baseload power for the UK.
The WRA’s letter comes in response to a report published last week by the Environmental Audit Committee (EAC) on accelerating the move away from fossil fuels, which did not mention waste wood biomass. The EAC scrutinises the government’s environmental policies and makes recommendations.
Additionally, the government’s biomass policy statement, published in November 2021, also “largely ignored” the waste wood biomass sector, the WRA claims.
According to the WRA, the waste wood biomass sector has the potential to generate 470 megawatts of low-carbon baseload power for the UK, equivalent to 3.3 terawatt-hours per year. This would supply reliable power for 840,000 UK households, the WRA says, accounting for 1% of the annual UK power consumption.
And, the WRA says, the sector diverts lower quality waste wood away from landfills, preventing methane emissions.
Precedent
Richard Coulson, chair of the WRA, expressed disappointment that waste wood biomass was not included in the EAC’s report. “We hope that this doesn’t set a precedent for the upcoming biomass strategy,” he said.
Mr Coulson added that it was important that the sector receives support to reduce carbon emissions further through the use of greenhouse gas removal technologies. “With the correct future business models in place, we can protect all of the benefits our sector delivers today and further develop it to encompass CCUS [carbon capture, utilisation, and storage] technologies,” Mr Coulson said.
The WRA has more than 100 member companies, representing more than 90% of the UK’s wood recyclers and reprocessors.
Its members include wood recyclers and reprocessors, panel board mills and biomass companies.
Related link
EAC report: Accelerating the transition from fossil fuels and securing energy supplies
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