1. Biomass Energy on the Urban Fringe
‘Fire from forests and fields beyond the edge of town’

2. An outline of the talk The energy gap An importance for carbon
Biomass for energy
Some future perspectives

3. Energy gap There may be issues related to the following:
Lack of electricity
Lack of heat
Energy security

4. UK energy already comes from some unexpected places
Cable supply from France
UK nuclear, present and future
Biomass
Gas, by ship from North Africa
And in the future…
Solar, locally produced and from North Africa
Wood chip and sawdust

5. But where ever we are we may care to be mindful of issues relating to global carbon distributions
A transfer of carbon from the terrasphere to the atmosphere

6. Are there any UK solutions and are there any that a particularly relevant to the urban fringe?
Waste conversion to heat and power
Plant-based power generation combined with carbon sequestration

7. Newly established industries may be addressing some of these issues
Require a supply chain comprising:
biomass
processing facilities
facilities for energy conversion
And suitable economic incentives

8. UK Operational Biomass Processing Facilities: June, 2010
Source:

9. Example 1 UK-grown cereals grain human and animal consumption
straw use for local heating (directly)
Make use of energy densification and then use for the production of heat
However there is a requirement for speciality boilers characterised by ‘rolling grids’ and lower temperatures of combustion

10. Example 2 Dedicated energy crops
eg. SRC willow and poplar [Harvest, dry for a year and then use]
‘Energy grasses’ [Harvest in the Spring and use directly]

11. Example 2 (continued)

12. Example 2 (continued)
In many cases issues with energy densification remain to permit the exploitation of near zero- carbon energy production

13. Some future perspectives
Processing/pelleting factories in the UK- should there be more on the urban fringe? nb. Bishops Castle
This may be OK for farmers and land owners but what about others who may wish to have be involved in decentralised energy production?
0.3ha Miscanthus can heat a domestic house
Food vs. fuel (qv. animals vs food) also the RHI
Not everyone likes renewable energy

14. A future vision for the urban fringe…

15. Acknowledgements
Colleagues in the Biorenewables and Environmental Change Division, IBERS
Biomass Chemistry Group: Gordon Allison, Barbara Hauck, Samantha Gill and Jose Carli
Geraint Evans at NNFCC