Government calls for more waste-wood-to-energy plants

Report claims that potential fuel source of up to 10m tonnes of waste wood a year is being ignored

The government has today called for the development of a network of geographically dispersed waste incineration combined heat and power (CHP) plants to take advantage of the 10m tonnes of waste wood the UK produces every year.

Speaking at the publication of a new report into waste wood's potential as a source of fuel, Climate change and waste minister Joan Ruddock warned that the UK was missing out on a major source of energy.

"It has been estimated that recovering energy from 2m tonnes of waste wood could generate 2,600GWh electricity and save 1.15m tonnes of carbon dioxide equivalent emissions, with greater benefits available by recovering heat as well as power," she said. "This is a huge potential resource that is being wasted."

The report claims that currently the vast majority of the 10m tonnes of waste wood produced each year goes straight to landfill and while there is a growing demand from biomass plants for virgin timber the potential of waste wood is being largely ignored. As a result around 5m tonnes of carbon dioxide savings are being lost.

The report adds that with the majority of waste wood, such as kitchen surfaces and construction materials, being contaminated the key to realising its potential as an energy sources lies in the development of a network of geographically dispersed biomass facilities capable of delivering both energy and heat recovery.

Defra claims that recent changes to government's Renewables Obligation incentive scheme should help promote the development of such facilities by allowing developers to sell more renewable obligation certificates (ROCs) alongside the energy generated from such plants.

Speaking to BusinessGreen.com, Bernard Fairman, managing partner and founder of investment firm Foresight Group which is currently backing a number of waste-to-energy plants, said that investors were showing a growing interest in the sector, having realised that waste wood energy plants can generate multiple revenue streams, selling clean energy and ROCs and charging local businesses and municipalities for the disposal of waste wood.

"There are plenty of incentives in place and investors have picked up on the fact this model makes sense," he said. "In a few years I reckon we'll be talking about a shortage of waste wood."