Biomass heating technology is already widely and successfully deployed in many continental european countries (e.g. Finland, Austria and the Czech Republic).
The Challenge:
A techno-economic
review of the whole sector by the Carbon Trust in 2005 identified a material opportunity to reduce the UK's carbon emissions by up to 5.6 million tonnes per year through the use of biomass heating; this was identified as the most cost-effective use of the UK's biomass resource. However, the technology faced three key barriers:
- High upfront capex. relative to incumbent (gas and oil) heating
- Perceptual and real risks in the fuel supply chain
- Poor understanding of the benefits/technical know-how for success
The Solution:
Acting for the UK government's Department of Energy and Climate Change, the Carbon Trust launched the Biomass Heat Accelerator (BHA) to tackle these barriers and unlock the sector's potential in the UK. A five year programme with a budget of £5M, the BHA is structured in five workstreams, each designed to target a specific barrier:
- Analysis and detailed monitoring of a sample of existing installations to identify issues and develop solutions
- Projects to reduce capex, cost of delivery and improve overall cost-effectiveness; partnering with the key UK equipment suppliers
- Target, recruit and deliver a range of up to 20 new “best-in-class” projects demonstrating low-cost, high-performance, replicable installations in key sectors using novel approaches
- Develop an interactive, fuel suppliers map, risk-sharing contract templates, a fuel QA scheme, best practice guidance and risk-management strategies for consumers and suppliers;
- A UK-wide knowledge dissemination and training programme.
The BHA concludes in 2011/12 and is now closed to new participants but some of the programme's outcomes can already be accessed via the
Biomass homepage.