Independent and technology-agnostic, whole systems approach to delivering evidence and insight about the role of bioenergy in achieving Net Zero

 

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Growing evidence to understand the role of bioenergy in achieving Net Zero

Energy Systems Catapult offer world class systems engineering, working with government, regulators, industry, academia and innovators to overcome barriers and navigate the transition to Net Zero.

The Clean Tech Engineering team offering specialist knowledge and practical experience in technology development and deployment, considering the technological, engineering, economic, regulatory and policy implications for innovations and investment decisions.

We have technical experts offering insights on Networks from a whole systems perspective:

  • Bioenergy – building evidence and insight from a whole system perspective to assess the sustainability of land use change for biomass production in the UK, including modelling tools to identify optimal bioenergy value chains, low carbon energy technologies that deliver carbon savings, and maximising the combination with Carbon Capture and Storage.

What we offer

Technology development and deployment

We provide evidence-based guidance to the UK innovation community to help maximise the value of:

  • Innovation assessments for new technologies, such as performance and cost characteristics
  • Technical due-diligence
  • Innovation management capability to support the progression of technologies towards commercialisation
  • Market positioning and partnering options to accelerate innovations towards commercialisation
  • Techno-economic analysis to assess the competitiveness of technologies and associated innovations in decarbonised future energy systems.

Supporting market and policy development

Our independent, whole systems approach can help develop market and policy frameworks that support new technologies deployed to optimise integration, deliver new services and value streams using multiple energy-vectors (electricity, heat, gas, hydrogen, etc).

Case Studies

The Potential of Agroforestry for Bioenergy in the UK

The UK government’s recently published Biomass Strategy (2023) highlighted the key role of bioenergy for Net Zero, particularly bioenergy with carbon capture and storage (BECCS).

Use of bioenergy technologies requires land to grow biomass feedstocks which may conflict with other potential land uses.

This is where agroforestry comes in. Agroforestry is the concept of planting trees on farmland, alongside crops or animals. These trees could be utilized for other purposes, such as for bioenergy, whilst the growth of trees themselves may improve crop and animal yields. Agroforestry only received a single mention in the Biomass Strategy (2023), thus is underexplored.

Energy Systems Catapult was commissioned by Ian Brown, recipient of a Churchill Fellowship Activate grant, to assess the potential benefits of agroforestry for bioenergy in the UK.

The scope of the project was to perform a high-level quantitative assessment, and to uncover key areas for future work. The study covered:

  • The potential land area that could be transitioned to agroforestry by 2050, and the biomass yield for bioenergy that would arise from this.
  • The impact of agroforestry on domestic UK biomass feedstock availability.
  • The contribution of agroforestry towards net zero needs for bioenergy.
  • Other decarbonising uses for biomass from agroforestry.
  • Policy needs to enable agroforestry.

Find out more: The Potential of Agroforestry for Bioenergy in the UK

Contact us – Clean Tech Engineering

If you are interested in working with us, contact us by completing the form and one of the team will be in touch.

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