UK Government Biomass policy under fire

A summary of the Farmers Guardian Lead Article on 28 October 2005,
By Tom Levitt

A REPORT by the Government's Biomass Task Force, headed up by Sir Ben Gill, has been labelled a 'major disappointment'.

Farming and environmental groups criticised the report for ruling out a renewable heat obligation that would have guaranteed a demand for energy crops grown by farmers. The task force came up with 42 proposals for the Government to consider. The main one was the provision of £20 million worth of grants to support the installation of biomass heating boilers.

The former NFU president's group also recommended that the Government spends
£3.5m on developing a supply chain and sets up a special training programme for the entire biomass sector. It has called for Ministers to be made responsible for biomass within both the Department of Trade and Industry and Defra and for the Government to set energy targets for biomass. It also wants the Entry Level scheme to reward energy crop growers.

However, in a move that angered many within the industry, the task force ruled out a renewable heat obligation.

Obligations for electricity producers have forced power stations to generate 10 per cent of their energy from renewable sources such as biomass. A similar obligation is being considered for transport.

"We are astonished that the task force is rejecting the Renewable Heat Obligation model," said CLA president Mark Hudson.

"The grants available for renewable heat in the past have been stop-start and cash limited. The obligation provides a far better model and has successfully increased private investment in the electricity sector.

See the full article here..