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2. Green Heat and Biofuels
The Renewable Power Association has worked with Friends of the Earth and
others to develop a proposal for a ‘Renewable
Heat Obligation.’ They say that although the UK
government has recognized the contribution of Green Heat technologies
in climate change programmes, it “has
not introduced a dedicated policy to support this low cost and proven
carbon abatement option.” They note that space heating accounts for one-third
of the UK’s
energy demand, and add “Like electricity
suppliers, coal, gas and oil suppliers should have an Obligation to
supply an increasing proportion of their business from renewable energy
sources.” And they suggest that ‘Heat Obligation Certificates’
should be introduced at the ‘earliest
possible opportunity’. They could be traded,
as with Renewable Obligation Certificates, to provide a market incentive. They say this approach is “even
more relevant in the more established heat market than in power generation”.
The Green Heat obligation would require heat suppliers to supply an increasing
proportion of heat from non-fossil fuel sources, such as biomass, solar
thermal and earth energy systems. Each supplier’s Obligation would be
a percentage of its fossil fuel sales, and the Obligation would be met
by Heat Obligation Certificates purchased from accredited Green Heat
schemes.
The UK
obtained 8,327 GWh of thermal energy from
green sources in 2002, or 716,000 tonnes of oil equivalent, mainly in
heat for homes and light industry. The majority was provided by wood
and some solar thermal but the RPA say that “there
is a huge potential for additional low cost carbon abatement to be achieved
by stimulating and supporting the market for renewable heat”.
They claim that biomass fuel could fuel 8,000 MW of
heating systems, and this could treble with the introduction of energy
crops, while solar could provide 70% of a home’s annual hot water needs, and half of the country’s
building stock is suitable for solar thermal. They conclude “Every new energy development and investment
in the UK that fails to make use of a renewable fuel
for both power and heat, is a missed opportunity
in terms of developing the UK’s low carbon economy.”
* The RPA also backed the idea of reducing emissions
from transport by the introduction of a Renewable
Transport Fuel Obligation, pointing out that “The Renewables Obligation applies only to the supply of electricity and
yet two-thirds of our emissions of greenhouse gases come from non-electricity
uses of fossil fuels. Proven and cost effective renewable energy technologies
are available now to displace the use of fossil fuels in transport
and for heat; however, there is no market-based instrument to incentivise their development.”
This idea now looks like being explored- see below.
Biofuels - more studies
The Government may have backed off increasing tax on
conventional transport fuels in last Decembers Pre-Budget report, but
the government has at least opened the door a bit more to biofuels- if only for the longer term.
A 20p-a-litre duty reduction for bioethanol
came into effect in January last year, to match the advantage already
given to biodiesel, and although appeals
for further cuts of up to 12p a litre were ignored, Chapter 7 of the
Pre-Budget Report, on ‘Protecting the Environment’, did recognise that
biofuels may “contribute
to security of fuel supply” in the future.
It also announced a consultation and a feasibility
study (to commence “shortly”) on a possible
Renewable Transport Fuel Obligation (RTFO), to require a fuel suppliers
to put a minimum biofuel content into conventional
fuels, so that specified proportions of aggregate fuel sales come from
renewable sources, drawing upon the experience of the RO for electricity.
There have been calls for this new Obligation to be set at 2% initially
and then increased in stages. To help suppliers develop the necessary
capacity, there will also be a pilot project (launched in 2005, to commence
2006) to examine the potential for using duty incentives for inputs-based
production. This seems to be a result of lobbying by oil
interests- certainly it offers a way for major refineries to incorporate
bio-based feedstocks, thereby keeping a grip
on a portion of biofuels production. Enhanced
capital allowances for biofuel production
plants were launched as a stakeholder discussion document in October-
more details expected in the March 2005 Budget.
* It was also indicated that one of the UK’s
key priorities for the Presidency of the EU in 2005 is to get aviation
emissions included in the EU Emissions Trading Scheme from 2008.
Biomass blockage
A Poultry waste fired power station in Norfolk,
which was to use pyrolysis and gasification
technology, has been rejected by local councillors. Chicken processing
firm Banham Poultry wanted to develop a green power plant on the
site of its former factory at Bunn’s Bank, Attleborough.
It would be the first of its kind to use the latest technology to convert
feathers, heads, guts and other poultry waste into renewable electricity.
But members of Norfolk County Council’s planning (regulatory) committee
refused planning permission for the scheme because of concerns about
its effect on the local area, with odour being a key issue.
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