• Biomass UK, the REA member forum for biomass power, announces ‘first 100 days’ action plan for next Government.
• Sustainable biomass and Bioenergy Carbon Capture and Storage (BECCS) critical in reaching net zero.
• Government policy must provide certainty to sector so that it can continue generating low carbon power and deliver critical carbon removals.

Biomass UK, the REA’s members forum for biomass power, has today launched its vision for the next Government’s first 100 days in office. The document focuses on six key areas, building on work already underway by the previous administration.

The vision includes calls to accelerate existing carbon capture and storage (CCS) workstreams, including the further allocation of Track 1 expansion and Track 2 cluster sequencing by the end of the year, publish the Cross Sectoral Sustainability Framework committed to in last year’s Biomass Strategy, provide policy certainty to generators approaching the end of their Renewables Obligation contracts, and publish a long-term plan for domestic feedstock production.

Biomass power is the UK’s second largest producer of low carbon energy. It provides consistent power, complementing other forms of renewable energy, like wind and solar, and ensuring the UK has a continuous, secure energy supply with a mix of technologies in the system.

Read Biomass UK’s first 100 days action plan here.

Samantha Smith, Head of Biomass, REA (Association for Renewable Energy and Clean Technology), said:

“The Climate Change Committee, International Energy Agency, and UN Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change – the world’s leading climate science authorities – all recognise the role of sustainable biomass power in delivering net zero, particularly when combined with bioenergy carbon capture and storage (BECCS), which will play a critical role in removing carbon from the atmosphere.

Much of the work behind the policies outlined in Biomass UK’s first 100 days plan is already well underway, so delivering these policy asks is practical and achievable. It’s also now time critical, given the delays and uncertainty the industry continues to face.

We need every tool in the toolbox if we are to meet the challenge of climate change and the delivery of BECCS, using sustainable biomass, has a critical role to play in that. However, we also need the right policy landscape to enable this. The next government must act fast if we are going to establish a viable market for the deployment of negative emissions technologies, like BECCS, critical to meeting our net zero targets.”