Biomass could provide one fifth of global energy, say the UK Energy Research Centre (UKERC). And this would come into effect without damaging food production.
The UKERC is funded by the British Government and their research looked at the biomass debate to determine whether growing crops specifically for biomass fuel was actually a good idea.
Opinion is split, but the report says that producing biomass crops is a win-win situation. Scientists say that it’d be a successful venture as long as land, soil and water resources aren’t damaged.
Biomass can be used both domestically and commercially for heat and electricity. Commercially, biomass products are burnt and the heat powers large turbines to create electricity. This can then be fed through the National Grid to people’s homes.
And you can even install biomass technology in your property. Biomass boilers are particularly popular and will burn wood, crops and waste products. This replaces the traditional burning of gas, oil and coal for energy. These three are fossil fuels and pollute the atmosphere with carbon dioxide emissions when burnt.
The report concludes that biomass should be pushed heavily now, rather than waiting for a definitive answer on its potential.
The report’s author, Raphael Slade, says: “If we make the best use of agricultural residues, energy crops and waste materials, then getting one fifth of current global energy supply from biomass is a reasonable ambition.”
Mr Slade also suggested biomass could accommodate for more than one fifth of total energy production, but this would mean making assumptions on food production and dietary changes.
He believes replacing all fossil fuels with biomass would be possible if more food could be grown on less land.
He said: “The main mistake is to think of this as all or nothing. There’s plenty of scope for experimentation.”