Energy

  As much as one fifth of the world’s energy could be provided by biomass materials without reducing farming land space used for growing food, according to the latest comprehensive scientific report. Biomass is biological material obtained from living or recently living organisms that can be processed into electricity, fuel and heat. Biomass for energy can be obtained from a diverse range of sources, the most important of which are energy crops, agricultural and forestry residues, wastes and existing forestry. But debate continues to surround the role of biomass in the future energy system, with some believing it has the potential to fuel the planet, and others fearing it could ruin the environment. Many believe biomass can address concerns relating to climate change, energy security, rural developmentÊandÊaccess to modern energy services in developing countries. To establish the facts, scientists at Imperial College have reviewed the size of the global resource of energy from biomass, examining evidence from more than 90 international studies. The report addresses key controversies in the energy field and the main concerns relating to the production of biomass including the sustainability of increasing crop yields and the prospect that competition for land will impact on food production. According to the report, the main reason that scientists disagree on biomass is that they make different technical and ethical assumptions about population, diet, and land use. One major disagreement concerns the speed with which productivity improvements in food and energy crop production can be rolled out. “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,” said Dr Raphael Slade, the report’s leading author and a research fellow at Imperial College London. Achieving more than a fifth is technically possible […]