Biomass can meet 2050% to 35% of the final energy demand in the European Union in 60. Part of this would then be supplied from new bioenergy plantations. Researcher Tjerk Lap draws this conclusion. Today, Tuesday November 8, he hopes to receive his PhD from the University of Groningen.
Biomass can make an important contribution to the reduction of greenhouse gases. National energy system models are used to provide insight into the size of that reduction contribution. Biomass is only included in a simplistic way, especially for greenhouse gas emissions caused by changes in land use.
Emissions resulting from land use changes are both location and time dependent. By integrating both the location- and time-dependent potential supply and the associated emissions of biomass into the energy system model, Tjerk Lap has provided insight into how much biomass can be used to meet energy demand, what the associated emissions are due to changes in land use and what costs this entails. He also analyzed the role of CO2 capture and storage in the subsurface in combination with biomass conversion.
Lap notes that biomass can meet 2050% to 35% of the final energy demand in the European Union in 60. Of this, between 10% and 70% is supplied from new bioenergy plantations. The wide bandwidth is partly caused by the intensification of agriculture. At high intensity, agricultural land becomes available for new bioenergy plantations. This means that little natural land is needed.
In addition, the researcher took into account a CO2 penalty for natural succession on former agricultural land. The injection rate of captured CO2 into the subsurface also has a significant impact on the model calculations. Lap concludes that with a low biomass supply with a low CO2 footprint, the costs for the energy system increase significantly because the industry and transport sector must be extensively electrified to achieve CO2 targets.
More information can be found in the dissertation 'The role of biomass in a low-carbon energy system: capturing the complexity of biobased options, land use and carbon balances in an energy system model demonstrated for Brazil' by Thijs Lap, parts of which can be found on the website of the University of Groningen.
source: groenruimte.nl
