LONDON, England (UPI) -- Viewed by U.S. President Bush as one of the key solutions to the United States` reliance on oil, the power of plants is capturing the imagination of the world`s industrialized nations as the scramble for sustainable sources of energy intensifies.
In Britain, the sight of fields of giant grass swaying in the breeze could soon become commonplace, as the government turns to crops as an energy source that could help tackle the effects of climate change.
Biomass products such as miscanthus -- also known as elephant grass -- and short rotation coppice willow are already helping to fuel power stations and heat public buildings such as schools and hospitals, accounting for around 1 percent of Britain`s electricity and heat generation.
But now ministers are looking to promote the energy possibilities of plants as they seek to increase the proportion of Britain`s supplies derived from renewable sources.
In late April, the government announced a 12-point plan to unlock the potential of biomass -- products from crops, trees and agricultural waste -- which it said was an important element of Britain`s energy future.
Measures included a capital grant scheme for biomass boilers; the establishment of a new Biomass Energy Center to provide expert information and advice, along with further grant support for biomass supply chains and a commitment to consider using biomass heating in government buildings.
'We are aiming for 10 percent of our electricity to come from renewable sources by 2010 and double that by 2020 so biomass will have an increasingly important role to play in the U.K.`s future energy mix,' Energy Minister Malcolm Wicks said.
Lord Bach, minister for sustainable farming and food, said: 'There is enormous potential in biomass, to generate renewable energy, to help the environment and to provide another possible market for our farmers.
'We know that biomass is not the answer to every issue facing us but we should be getting much more from this valuable resource.'
A government task force concluded in November that using biomass for heating could reduce Britain`s carbon emissions by almost three million tons every year - a reduction the government says is equivalent to taking 3.25 million cars of the road
In May, fuel company Greenergy announced that it had started taking deliveries of SRC willow wood chips for a 30 megawatt biomass power station in northeast England. The plant, due to come on-line next year, will consume 55,000 wet tons of SRC wood chip annually, as well as 170,000 tons of forestry logs, sawmill chips and recycled timber. It is expected to provide enough power for approximately 30,000 homes.
Greenergy says biomass can not only contribute to tackling the climate change crisis, but could also bolster the struggling agricultural sector. British farmers saw an overall loss of income of 8.9 percent last year, following European Union cuts to agricultural subsidies. In the era of globalization, where domestic farmers increasingly find themselves unable to compete with cheap foreign imports, diversification through energy crops could provide at least part of the answer.
The company estimates that short rotation coppice alone could occupy five to 10 times its current area in Britain -- 3000 to 5000 hectares -- by 2010. Biomass plantations require less maintenance than traditional crops, offering farmers an ideal opportunity to boost their income while still retaining time for other ventures.
Willie McGhee, a biomass trader at Greenergy, said: 'Biomass will become an increasingly important market as demand rises: demand for supply of feedstock to the next generation of biomass power stations; demand for replacement feed stock at coal fired power stations and demand for biomass as a fossil fuel substitute for commercial and domestic heating.
'It is a market that creates new and sustainable opportunities for U.K. farmers and other suppliers of renewable or recycled wood stock whilst providing a U.K. grown alternative to oil, gas and coal.'
Britain is also turning to plants for cleaner transport fuels. Crops such as rapeseed produce oil that can be used to make biodiesel, while wheat can be used to produce bioethanol. While the fuels can be used in pure form in some vehicles, they are generally mixed with petrol or diesel.
From December 2005 to March 2006, Greenergy supplied 4.5 million gallons of bioethanol and biodiesel as part of standard fuel blends, sold predominately through supermarket forecourts or to fleet customers. The company said the emissions savings for the quarter were 41,226 tons of carbon dioxide, equivalent to taking more than 50,000 average family cars off the road for three months.
But there is a question mark over whether the public will support the changes in the British landscape resulting from increased cultivation of energy crops. The aversion of rural dwellers to anything that alters the appearance of the countryside is well-known, having proved a major obstacle to the erection of wind farms.
It is primarily in their unusual height that energy crops differ from conventional plantations. Miscanthus, a woody grass originally from Asia with very high growth rates, can grow to about 11.5 feet, while short rotation coppice, densely planted varieties of willow, or, less commonly, poplar, reaches a height of around 13 feet.
Angela Karp, deputy head of the plant and invertebrate ecology division at Rothamsted Research, said large scale land-use change from arable crops and grassland to energy crops would have wide implications on the appearance of the countryside.
But, she argued: 'It is clear that, if we are careful where they are grown, the benefits outweigh the disadvantages. Would we prefer more nuclear power stations or wind farms on the landscape?'
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