SHIFTING AWAY FROM CONVENTIONAL BIOFUELS Sustainable alternatives for the use of biomass in the UK transport sector Prepared by: Institute for European Environmental Policy (IEEP) 15 Queen Anne's Gate London SW1H 9BU United Kingdom Date prepared: May 2013 An IEEP discussion paper produced for ActionAid Disclaimer: The arguments expressed in this report are solely those of the authors, and do not reflect the opinion of any other party. The report should be cited as follows: Kretschmer, B, Allen, B, Kieve, D and Smith, C (2013) Shifting away from conventional biofuels: Sustainable alternatives for the use of biomass in the UK transport sector. An IEEP discussion paper produced for ActionAid. Institute for European Environmental Policy (IEEP): London. Corresponding author: Bettina Kretschmer ([email protected]) Picture copyright (frontpage from top to bottom): Ben Allen, MamaPyjama's - flickr, Bettina Kretschmer, darleeneisms - flickr, Sustainable sanitation - flickr Acknowledgements: We are grateful for extensive reviewing and useful comments and advice by David Baldock. We furthermore thank Clunie Keenleyside for her expert input. Funding from ActionAid UK is gratefully acknowledged. Institute for European Environmental Policy London Office 15 Queen Anne's Gate London, SW1H 9BU Tel: +44 (0) 20 7799 2244 Fax: +44 (0) 20 7799 2600 Brussels Office Quai au Foin, 55 Hooikaai 55 B- 1000 Brussels Tel: +32 (0) 2738 7482 Fax: +32 (0) 2732 4004 The Institute for European Environmental Policy (IEEP) is an independent not-for-profit institute. IEEP undertakes work for external sponsors in a range of policy areas. We also have our own research programmes and produce the Manual of European Environmental Policy (http://www.europeanenvironmentalpolicy.eu). For further information about IEEP, see our website at http://www.ieep.eu or contact any staff member. TABLE OF CONTENTS EXECUTIVE SUMMARY.......................................................................................................... 1 1 INTRODUCTION............................................................................................................. 4 2 UK POLICY CONTEXT AND CURRENT BIOFUEL USE ....................................................... 6 2.1 The UK policy context ........................................................................................... 6 2.2 Sources of biofuels in the UK .............................................................................. 11 3 ENVIRONMENTALLY SUSTAINABLE WASTES AND RESIDUE STREAMS ........................ 13 3.1 Sustainability – a first assessment ...................................................................... 13 3.2 Safeguards to prevent perverse outcomes ......................................................... 14 4 SUSTAINABLE DOMESTIC WASTES AND RESIDUES OF RELEVANCE FOR TRANSPORT IN THE UK ................................................................................................................................ 16 4.1 Food waste, green waste, non-segregated MSW, manure and sewage sludge... 18 4.2 Used cooking oil (UCO) sourced in the UK .......................................................... 20 4.3 Certain woody biomass residues ........................................................................ 21 4.4 Straw ................................................................................................................... 22 5 VOLUMES OF DOMESTIC WASTES AND RESIDUES AVAILABLE TO THE UK BIOFUEL FOR TRANSPORT INDUSTRY ....................................................................................................... 24 5.1 Food waste, green waste, non-segregated MSW, manure and sewage sludge... 24 5.2 Used cooking oil (UCO) sources in the UK ........................................................... 25 5.3 Certain woody biomass residues ........................................................................ 26 5.4 Straw ................................................................................................................... 28 5.5 Summary – discussing preferable uses for domestic wastes and residues ......... 29 6 OUTLOOK FOR AN ADVANCED BIOFUELS INDUSTRY IN THE UK ................................. 33 6.1 Processing wastes and residues into biogas and advanced biofuels ................... 33 6.2 Production costs of conventional and advanced biofuels ................................... 39 6.3 Scaling the industrial potential of the resources ................................................. 40 6.4 Job creation potential associated with an advanced biofuels industry ............... 44 7 CONCLUSIONS ............................................................................................................. 49 8 REFERENCES ................................................................................................................ 52 ANNEX 1 LIST OF WASTES AND RESIDUES ELIGIBLE FOR QUADRUPLE AND DOUBLE COUNTING AS PROPOSED IN THE ILUC PROPOSAL ............................................................. 59 ANNEX 2 DETAILED FIGURES ON THE COMPOSITION OF WASTE IN ENGLAND .............. 60 LIST OF TABLES Table 1: Biofuel blending targets under the RTFO and actual shares achieved....................... 8 Table 2: Summary of a first sustainability assessment of the Commission’s feedstock list ... 14 Table 3: Summary of UK estimates of potential for biological waste streams ...................... 25 Table 4: Summary of UK UCO potential ............................................................................... 25 Table 5: Woody biomass residue estimates for the UK (in 2020) ......................................... 28 Table 6: Summary of UK straw potential ............................................................................. 29 Table 7: Summary of UK waste and residue potentials ........................................................ 30 Table 8: Summary of UK waste and residue potentials (continued) ..................................... 31 Table 9: Extreme ranges for shares of advanced biofuels from wastes and residues ........... 32 Table 10: Cost structure and capacity of some advanced biofuel plants .............................. 40 Table 11: Summary of job creation estimates ...................................................................... 48 LIST OF FIGURES Figure 1: Illustrating the waste hierarchy .............................................................................. 9 Figure 2: The sources of feedstocks for biofuels consumed in the UK 2010 - 2013 .............. 12 Figure 3: Bioenergy feedstocks hierarchy and focus of this report ....................................... 16 Figure 4: Favoured wood use in England ............................................................................. 26 Figure 5: Conversion routes from biomass to biofuels ......................................................... 34 Figure 6: Well to Wheels GHG emissions from different feedstocks and biofuels. ............... 35 Figure 7: Climate change impact of using different waste treatment technologies .............. 38 Figure 8: GHG savings for different uses of biogas in the UK................................................ 39 Figure 9: Current distribution of AD plants in the UK ........................................................... 42 LIST OF BOXES Box 1: Energy efficiency and influencing the way vehicles are used ....................................... 7 Box 2: Why certain feedstocks are not considered further .................................................. 17 Box 3: Food waste ............................................................................................................... 19 Box 4: The ‘Woodfuel East’ project ..................................................................................... 27 Box 5: UK biofuel and total energy in road and rail transport demand in 2020 .................... 32 Box 6: Small-scale to Super AD, size ranges for AD plant operations in the UK .................... 44 Box 7: Biofuel related employment opportunities ............................................................... 45 Box 8: Case Study – New gasification plant in the North East .............................................. 46 ABBREVIATIONS AD Anaerobic digestion BEC Biomass Energy Centre CAP Common Agricultural Policy CCC Committee on Climate Change CCGT Combined Cycle Gas Turbine CHP Combined heat and power CO2 Carbon dioxide DECC Department for Energy and Climate Change Defra Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs DfT Department for Transport FQD Fuel Quality Directive GHG Greenhouse gas ILUC Indirect land use change LCVP Low Carbon Vehicle Partnership LCW Landscape care wood MSW Municipal solid waste MTBE Methyl tertiary butyl ether NREAP National Renewable Energy Action Plan REA Renewable Energy Association RED Renewable Energy Directive RTFO Renewable Transport Fuel Obligation UCO Used cooking oil WFD (EU) Waste Framework Directive UNITS GJ Gigajoule equal to 10^9 joules kg Kilogram kWe Kilowatt-electric m³ Cubic metre MJ Megajoule equal to 10^6 joules Modt Million oven dry tonnes Mt Mega(=million) tonnes MW Megawatt PJ Petajoule equal to 10^15 joules EXECUTIVE SUMMARY Scope and context of the report An important debate is underway about the future of biofuels in Europe and the UK specifically, triggered by the realisation that current biofuel consumption has greater environmental and social impacts than first anticipated. The impacts on land use of increased cultivation of crops for biofuel use and the consequences for the greenhouse