1 December 2020
Should biomass subsidies continue in the UK?
Biomass plants enjoy government subsidies even though their environmental credentials are increasingly being questioned. But amending the terms would be open to legal challenge
Burning plant biomass for electricity at first appears to be a great alternative to burning fossil fuels. Biomass is a renewable energy source in that trees can be replanted. So, if you consider the replanting of forests as part of the carbon cycle, the carbon emissions from burning biomass are considerably lowered, given that the carbon released will be trapped again as trees regrow. Furthermore, to the extent biomass is sourced from waste due to sustainable forest management, making electricity from biomass is a clever way of dealing with a waste product. Perhaps it is for these reasons, along with the imperative to move away from fossil fuels, that electricity from biomass has received go
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