April 8, 2024 Environmental Impact of Biomass
Biomass and the UK’s Commitment to Net Zero
In her first week as Prime Minister, Liz Truss reiterated the government’s commitment to the 2050 Net Zero target. It’s an ambitious target, and it will take a wide range of changes and measures to achieve. Biomass heating without a doubt needs to be part of the national strategy if we’re going to heat our homes and businesses reliably and sustainably.
What is Net Zero?
Put simply, Net Zero is the state in which no greenhouse gases are emitted, or those that are emitted are offset by removing the same amount from the atmosphere. It’s often used interchangeably with ‘carbon neutral’, but Net Zero goes further.
Carbons make up the bulk of greenhouse gases, with Carbon dioxide (CO2) being by far the most common greenhouse gas, and the next being methane (CH4). However, there’s also Nitrous Oxide (N2O), and some additional fluorinated gases.
Net Zero counts all of those, not just carbon dioxide — the ambition is that there will be no additional greenhouse gases in the atmosphere because of human activity.
Heating and greenhouse gas emissions
Heating creates 37% of the UK’s emissions — about 14% from domestic and roughly 23% from commercial sources. Clearly, it’s a major focus of the Net Zero project.
For achieving Net Zero, heating presents the same challenges as other energy requirements like electricity and transport fuel. We have to reduce or eliminate emissions but still get reliable and effective results.
Biomass resolves the tension between renewability and reliability for heating homes and businesses.
Why is biomass heating environmentally friendly?
Biomass boilers work much like conventional boilers, using combustion to provide hot water for taps and radiators. Whereas traditional boilers use fossil fuels like gas or oil, biomass boilers burn organic material, typically logs, wood chips, or wood pellets.
Since they burn wood, you might wonder if biomass boilers are bad for the environment too. Far from it — they’re a vital part of any effort to reach Net Zero or carbon neutrality.
Of course, there are carbon emissions from heating using biomass, but in the first place, those emissions are a fraction of the emissions from a conventional boiler. Biomass boilers emit about 300kg of carbon dioxide for every 20MWh of power. For the same output, a gas boiler produces over 4 tonnes of CO2.
Also, the trees that are used to make biomass fuel absorbed carbon dioxide in their lifetimes, and they only release the CO2 that they captured from the atmosphere. That exchange is carbon neutral. When biomass is complemented by managed forestry so that the forests continue to thrive while providing fuel for heating, the process remains completely sustainable and renewable.
What types of buildings need biomass heating?
Off-grid buildings are likely the worst polluters when it comes to heating. Firstly, without a natural gas supply, they generally rely on oil for heating fuel. The environmental impact of heating oil is even worse than gas’s — about 5.2 tonnes of CO2 per 20MWh.
Secondly, a lot of off-grid buildings are large and poorly insulated — farm buildings are a prime example of that. Without proper insulation, the amount of fuel needed to heat a space is dramatically greater, and if that fuel is oil, that means yet more carbon emissions.
At the same time, no business and no home should be expected to sacrifice reliable and effective heating, nor would that prospect encourage support for the Net Zero target. For buildings off the gas grid, biomass is the only reliable option with renewable energy. Biomass boilers are the only technology capable of heating those buildings effectively without making a net contribution to harmful emissions.
How to work towards Net Zero with your heating
If you need to heat off-grid buildings and you want to reduce your environmental impact our UK-wide network of experts and installers are ready to advise you.
ETA is the UK’s leading brand for biomass heating systems, and Innasol is the nation’s only distributor. To find out more about the options for sustainable heating at home, or the best renewable heating for your business, call 01621 892613 for a no-obligation conversation.
