The Role of Biomass in Achieving Net Zero Call for Evidence

Ember's response to the UK government's call for evidence on biomass argues that the assumption of carbon neutrality for biomass power is scientifically unsupported and that such generation is more expensive than alternatives. The organization advocates for tightening sustainability regulations to exclude feedstocks from high-carbon or biodiverse forests and suggests that limited sustainable biomass should be diverted from the power sector toward construction and hard-to-abate industries. Ember also recommends unbundling residual and negative emissions budgets in UK carbon accounting and exploring lower-risk negative emissions routes, such as nature-based solutions and domestic energy crops on degraded land, over large-scale BECCS projects.

• Biomass-for-power, BECCS, and coal-to-biomass conversions are more expensive power generation sources than available alternatives and must prove other utility to justify government support.
• The scientific basis for assuming biomass power is inherently carbon neutral is no longer valid; therefore, UK biomass generators should provide full lifecycle carbon impact assessments using realistic counterfactuals aligned with the Paris Agreement.
• Due to limited global supplies of low-carbon, sustainable biomass, these resources should be prioritised for hard-to-abate industry and construction rather than the power sector.
• UK sustainability regulations for biomass should be strengthened to prohibit the use of feedstocks from slow-growing, high-carbon, or highly biodiverse primary forests.
• To clarify the scale of negative emissions required by the 2050 net zero law, the UK should separate negative emissions budgets from residual emissions budgets.
• Because BECCS cannot yet be relied upon for true net negative emissions, the UK should immediately scale nature-based solutions like restoration and afforestation, and explore direct air capture in areas with excess solar and wind energy.

APA

Ember (2021). The Role of Biomass in Achieving Net Zero Call for Evidence. https://ember-energy.org/app/uploads/2024/11/Biomass-call-for-evidence-June-2021.pdf

Chicago

Ember. The Role of Biomass in Achieving Net Zero Call for Evidence. 2021. https://ember-energy.org/app/uploads/2024/11/Biomass-call-for-evidence-June-2021.pdf.

Wikipedia

{{cite press release |author=Ember |title=The Role of Biomass in Achieving Net Zero Call for Evidence |date=15 June 2021 |url=https://ember-energy.org/app/uploads/2024/11/Biomass-call-for-evidence-June-2021.pdf |access-date=17 August 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@misc{ember2021role, author = {{Ember}}, title = {{The Role of Biomass in Achieving Net Zero Call for Evidence}}, publisher = {Ember}, year = {2021}, month = jun, url = {https://ember-energy.org/app/uploads/2024/11/Biomass-call-for-evidence-June-2021.pdf}, urldate = {2026-08-17}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }