Biomass continued to be the second largest source of renewable electricity in the U.K. last year, trailing only offshore and onshore wind, according to an annual report released by the U.K. Association for Renewable Energy and Clean Technology (REA) on Oct. 4.
The annual state of the industry report, titled Review23, indicates that renewables accounted for 41.7 percent of U.K. power generation last year, up from 39.6 percent in 2021. Biomass provided 6.9 percent of the U.K.’s electricity needs last year, down from 8.78 percent in 2021. While remaining relatively small contributors, anaerobic digestion and waste-to-energy technologies have continued to grow consistently, according to the report.
The biomass power sector, which includes facilities fueled by energy crops, straw and wood pellets, generated approximately 22,000 gigawatt hours (GWh) of electricity last year, down 16 percent from 2021. This is a change from previous trends where biomass power generation levels had remained steady in 2020 following previous growth rates of 9.4 percent from 2018 to 2019 and 6.1 percent from 2019 to 2020, according to the REA.
Anaerobic digestion accounted for just over 1 percent of the U.K.’s power generation last year. Waste-to-energy, defined to include animal waste derived biomass, energy from waste and landfill gas and sewage sludge digestion, accounted for approximately 3 percent of U.K.’s power generation in 2022, down slightly the previous year. Energy-from-waste accounted for approximately half of the U.K.’s waste-based generation last year. Landfill gas, sewage sludge digestion, and animal biomass accounted for 33 percent, 10 percent and 6 percent, respectively.
The report also addresses the use of renewables in heat and cooling. Renewables accounted for 8.36 percent of U.K. heat consumption last year. Biomass accounted for 60 percent of that volume, or approximately 32,000 GWh. Plant biomass, wood generation and waste wood generation accounted for a respective 57 percent, 32 percent and 11 percent of biomass heat generation last year.
According to the report, the biomass energy sector accounted for 2,744 U.K. jobs last year. The production of biomass, including wood for fuel, accounted for 12,796 jobs in the country. Total renewable energy and clean tech sector jobs were at 140,700.
