Bioenergy

Bioenergy refers to the energy stored in biological sources (biofuels). Bioenergy is released from biofuels by a number of different methods. Figure 1 (UK Government 2012)

Figure 1 - Biomass conversion routes

 outlines the large number of sources of bioenergy and the vast array of techniques used to harness energy from them. Bioenergy can be used on different scales; from being used to heat a home to being used to produce large quantities of electricity.  The coalition government views bioenergy as a major player in the future of the UK’s energy industry. A 2012 government report states that excluding bioenergy from the energy mix would increase the cost of decarbonizing our energy system by £44 billion. Figure 2 was taken from the study and shows the government’s projections for bioenergy production over the next few decades. The graph shows that the government expect more energy production from biofuels in the future, why do they think this to be the case?

Figure 2 - Future reliance on bioenergy

There are several advantages of bioenergy. In my view, one of the biggest advantages of bioenergy over other renewable energy types is the ability to produce a constant supply of energy, making it a potential substitute for fossil fuels (Slade et al. 2010). This would complement other renewable energy forms such as wind power, which only produce energy intermittently (see wind power post). Other benefits of bioenergy include disposal of waste biological material (Cantrell et al. 2008) and the fact that biofuels are a virtually inexhaustible fuel source, which leads bioenergy to be extremely sustainable.

So far, it would seem that bioenergy is a near perfect method of producing power. There is however one pitfall, that skeptics may well be quick to bring up: the production of greenhouse gases. Whilst the burning of biofuels does cause the emission of greenhouse gases, it must be noted that in comparison to those produced by the burning of fossil fuels, the amount is very small. A 2009 study by Rowe et al. shows us that bioenergy could provide large carbon savings over fossil fuels. However, the question remains, should these emissions be overlooked? Or should we stick to renewable energy sources that cause no emissions?

Conclusions

Whilst I do not feel we will ever be close to relying on bioenergy to provide us with the majority of our energy, I do feel it should be continued to be developed and used as part of the ‘energy mix’ in order to power the UK in the future. In my opinion, we can overlook the emissions as biofuels present a ubiquitous source of energy. The government’s projections seem fairly reasonable to myself, although I do think the lower proportional estimates shown in the range of figure 2 are more realistic. Your comments on the matter are welcome as usual, do you feel the emissions should be overlooked? Thanks for reading.