Waste wood as bioenergy feedstock
28 January 2018
Climate change impacts and related emission uncertainties from waste wood based energy systems in the UK.
Mirjam Röder and Patricia Thornley have published research on emissions from utilising waste wood for energy. With the urgent need to shift to low carbon energy carriers and previous Tyndall research emphasising the role of waste as a bioenergy feedstock, this publications presents results from an environmental impact assessment of using different types of waste wood for generating heat and electricity at different scales. The results show that energy from waste wood types and fuel mixes with low contamination levels can achieve valuable emission reductions compared to fossil fuels. However, material classified as having higher contamination levels achieved more limited emission savings and there is significant uncertainty attached to the level of N2O emissions from formaldehyde resins and other wood treatments, which requires practical investigation. Additionally, pretreatment to reduce contamination levels before energy conversion could improve greenhouse gas savings.