UK Lagging on Biomass Potential

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Friday, 14 May 2004

The Royal Commission on Environmental Pollution says farm and forestry waste, specially-grown crops and urban plant trimmings could provide heat and power.

The RCEP says what is necessary is to replace "fractured and misdirected" government policy on burning biomass. It says the example of several other European countries shows quite clearly what the UK itself could well achieve.

The commission publishes detailed reports on what it regards as the crucial environmental issues facing the UK and the world. This report, Biomass As A Renewable Energy Source, is its second special report.

The RCEP chairman is Professor Sir Tom Blundell, head of the department of biochemistry at the University of Cambridge. Speaking at the report's launch, he said: "I am disappointed that energy from biomass has not developed as quickly in the UK as elsewhere in Europe. "It could make a vital contribution to the UK's targets for combating climate change, but is failing to develop under fractured and misdirected government policies."

Source: Alex Kirby BBC News Online environment correspondent at www.bbc.co.uk. For full story go to:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/sci/tech/3700887.stm