A report by the Committee on Climate Change (CCC), which advises the government on climate change issues, has shown that the UK’s emissions targets will prove difficult to meet without the increased use of bioenergy. The CCC analysis comes just days after the Department of Energy and Claimate Change (DECC) announced the UK was on track to reaching its targets of reducing emissions by 80 per cent compared to 1990 levels by 2050.

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Bioenergy could be created by using woodchip from tree surgery waste, used cooking oil, chips of animal dung from livestock or miscanthus. However, the advisors have warned that the government should put any bioenergy targets on hold unless they are certain they can be fulfilled sustainably. The committee’s cheif executive said, “Strengthening of regulatory arrangements is required both here and in Europe to provide confidence that bioenergy used over the next decade is sustainable.” 

The CCC review suggests that, in order for the UK to meet its targets, bioenergy must contribute 10 per cent, instead of the current two per cent, to total energy. The Committee said biofuels would ideally be used with CCS to further reduce emissions, but stated they could potentially be used to supply 100Twh of primary energy by 2050. 

The analysts acknowledged the controversial nature of bioenergy. Mindful of this, David Kennedy, Chief Executive of the CCC, said, “The extent to which bioenergy should contribute to economy decarbonisation is highly controversial. Our analysis shows that there is a crucial role for bioenergy in meeting carbon budgets, but within strict sustainability limits – and trade-offs with wider environmental and social objectives may be needed.”

It is these “trade-offs” – with environmental aims such as increasing biodiversity and protecting wildlife – which have led to criticism of the plans to increase the use of bioenergy. Many also claim that growing crops for energy will impact on food prices and food security, which will be an increasingly important issue as the world’s population continues to rise.

Campaign group Biofuelwatch slammed the CCC report, claiming that, if the recommended increase were to be adopted, the UK would be burning ten times its current wood production each year; the group said that, as the deficit would have to be made up with imported biomass, this is not a sustainable solution.

Robert Palgrave of Biofuelwatch accused the CCC of underestimating the negative effects of bioenergy production in its recommendations. He said, "I welcome the fact that the review acknowledges that the proposed five-fold increase in UK bioenergy use could mean further negative impacts on food prices and on biodiversity. The impacts are being felt already in overseas countries where millions of hectares of land falsely described as 'abandoned or marginal' are to be converted to growing monoculture energy crops to fuel our economy. This is not land on which the UK has any legitimate claim – it is land on which the livelihoods of many millions of people depend."

The Carbon Plan, unveiled earlier this month by the government, shows the UK is on track to meet its targets, according to government ministers. Britain has cut its emissions by 25 per cent relative to 1990 levels.

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