Reducing CO2 emissions with sustainable, home grown biofuel
Drax Power Station in Yorkshire, currently generates 6% of the all U.K. electricity from biomass in the form of wood pellets. More than 5 million tonnes, is imported annually, from the USA and Canada. Shipping this quantity of wood pellets across the Atlantic, in a continuous stream in bulk carriers, is simply not sustainable. We could and should be, producing our own biomass here in the U.K. and ensuring that it is truly carbon neutral.
I propose the planting the equivalent of a New 21st Century Forest, to produce this biomass. This new forest would not be a conventional one in a specific place, rather spread out across the country. The trees planted, would not replace the conventional conifers planted in upland areas, but be native species including willow, which is fast growing and can be planted in poor quality flood plain areas, alongside rivers and streams. Willow grows 60cm a year and could be harvested as a biofuel crop, every five or six years. The willow being pollarded, the stumps remaining to regenerate themselves. Done in rotation, there would always be sufficient cover for wildlife to flourish.
Government subsidies would encourage farmers, with methane emitting beef cattle, to reduce their herds and replant some of their less productive land with biofuel crops. This new bio crop industry would generate new jobs here in the UK and help ensure we meet our our target to reduce CO2 emissions.
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