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Significant Contribution of Energy Crops to Heat and Electricity Needs in Great Britain to 2050

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Abstract

The paper estimates the potential contribution of Miscanthus × giganteus (Miscanthus) and short rotation coppice (SRC; in Great Britain often willow and poplar species, e.g. Salix. viminalis L. x S. viminalis var Joruun) to the heat and electricity needs in Great Britain to 2050 under climate change, using a model system which is composed of a partial equilibrium model and two process-based terrestrial biogeochemistry models. If the whole available area of land suitable for Miscanthus and SRC of 8 Mha is considered, results show that the contribution of Miscanthus and SRC to the heat and electricity supply would be significant. Under the projected climate and an imposed energy policy to 2050, the potential contribution would range from 139, 291 GWh to 230, 605 GWh for heat and from 112, 481 GWh to 127, 868 GWh for electricity by 2050. This would provide over 60 % of total heat and electricity needs in Great Britain. Using realistic implementation scenarios on just 0.4 Mha of land, Miscanthus and SRC could still contribute more than 5 % of heat and electricity needs in Great Britain. We conclude that Miscanthus and SRC have the potential to form part of a diverse renewable energy portfolio for Great Britain. In addition to climate and energy policy, the contribution of Miscanthus and SRC to heat and electricity will be impacted by the efficiency of combined heat and power (CHP) and alternative energy crops, and the area of land eventually used for dedicated bioenergy crops.

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Acknowledgments

This research formed part of the programme of the UK Energy Research Centre (UKERC) and was supported by the UK Research Councils under Natural Environment Research Council award: “Spatial Mapping and Evaluation of Energy Crop Distribution in Great Britain to 2050” (NE/H013415/1). We would like to thank Astley Hastings and Eric Casella for providing data and their useful help. PS is a Royal Society-Wolfson Research Merit Award holder.

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  1. Shifeng Wang

    Present address: Department of Architecture, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, CB2 1PX, UK

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Institute of Biological and Environmental Science, University of Aberdeen, Aberdeen, AB24 3UU, UK

    Shifeng Wang & Pete Smith

  2. Economics Department, Swansea University, Swansea, SA2 8PP, UK

    Sicong Wang

  3. School of Environmental Sciences, University of East Anglia, Norwich, NR4 7TJ, UK

    Andrew Lovett

  4. Institute of Functional Nano and Soft Materials (FUNSOM), Soochow University, 199 Ren-Ai Road, Suzhou Industrial Park, Suzhou, Jiangsu, 215123, People’s Republic of China

    Jun Zhong

  5. Centre for Biological Sciences, University of Southampton, Southampton, SO17 1BJ, UK

    Gail Taylor

  6. International Institute for Applied Systems Analysis, Schlossplatz 1, Laxenburg, 2361, Austria

    Sylvain Leduc

  7. School of Civil and Building Engineering, Loughborough University, Loughborough, LE11 3TU, UK

    Steven Firth

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  1. Shifeng Wang
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Correspondence to Shifeng Wang.

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Wang, S., Wang, S., Lovett, A. et al. Significant Contribution of Energy Crops to Heat and Electricity Needs in Great Britain to 2050. Bioenerg. Res. 7, 919–926 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12155-014-9422-z

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