Jeremy Rix NORTH ENERGY ASSOCIATES LTD Life Cycle Assessment for AB Systems Wetland Biomass to Bioenergy

Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) – what and why? LCA of the AB Systems process Interim results Summary Presentation Contents

Life Cycle Assessment What and why?

Life Cycle Assessment – What? Environmental impacts of a product from ‘cradle to grave’ Important to clearly define scope and methodology Answers specific question(s) Two distinct categories of LCA: Attributional- what are the impacts of this product? Consequential – what if? – compares the impacts of ‘counterfactual’ scenarios

Life Cycle Assessment – Why? UK commitment to reduce Greenhouse Gas (GHG) emissions The Renewable Heat Incentive (RHI) provides incentive to use biomass for heating supports market price for biomass LCA checks that using biomass does actually reduce GHG emissions and quantifies the savings

Life Cycle Assessment – Why? Guaranteed payments based on heat generated from biomass boilers between 2p and 7p per kWh for commercial 11p per kWh for domestic Stringent requirements on technology & installation sustainability requirements for supplied biomass Renewable Heat Incentive (RHI)

Life Cycle Assessment – Why? 60% GHG saving when GHG emissions for cultivation, processing and transport compared to EU average fossil fuel heating emissions Equates to life cycle GHG emissions < 34.8g/MJ* Sustainability requirements for land-use, including biodiversity and carbon stock criteria RHI 2015 Biomass Sustainability Requirements * 3.6MJ = 1kWh

LCA of the AB Systems process

LCA for AB Systems Scope Greenhouse Gases: Carbon Dioxide, CO2 (from fossil fuels only) Methane, CH4 Nitrous Oxide, N2O Primary Energy GHG & Energy for manufacture of plant & equipment Counterfactuals: Traditional methods of wetland management Heat from coal NOT in scope: Biodiversity & Habitat

Briquetting 5 main stages DeliveryHarvestingUseStorage & Drying LCA for AB Systems

Harvesting – significant aspects Direct Fuel Use Transport of harvesting vehicles & equipment Fuel for harvesting operations Plant & Machinery GHG emissions and energy consumption for manufacture, maintenance and decommissioning of harvesting equipment

LCA for AB Systems Storage & Drying – significant aspects Direct Fuel Use Equipment for loading & unloading from storage Transport to storage sites, if required Drying, if required – AgBags ideal for low-energy drying Plant & Machinery GHG emissions and energy consumption for manufacture, maintenance and decommissioning of storage equipment & consumables

LCA for AB Systems Briquetting – significant aspects Electricity use by Briquetting Machine Diesel fuel for generator Electricity from the grid Plant & Machinery GHG emissions and energy consumption for manufacture, maintenance and decommissioning of briquetting equipment & generator

LCA for AB Systems Delivery – significant aspects? Direct fuel use Diesel fuel delivery vehicles Often not as significant as generally believed Plant & Machinery GHG emissions and energy consumption for manufacture, maintenance and decommissioning of briquetting equipment & generator – often insignificant

LCA for AB Systems Use – significant aspects Efficiency of combustion and heat transfer Boiler efficiency extremely important Efficiency affects the GHG emissions per MJ delivered Efficiency affected by moisture content and consistency of feedstock Actual CO 2 combustion emissions not included (as ‘biogenic’) – but CH 4 and N 2 O emissions are included

Interim results

Interim Results GHG emissions per MJ delivered heat Biomass ~ 11g eq.CO 2 per MJ Counterfactual ~ 150g eq.CO 2 per MJ Saving ~ 93%

Summary Interim results savings likely to be above 80% well within the target set for the RHI The majority of GHG emissions from Harvesting & Processing stages GHG emissions from transportation within the UK unlikely to be highly significant Savings % highly dependent on the counterfactual chosen

Summary  Land management required in any case  Harvesting improves land management  No land use change or food crops displaced  Little current demand for arisings  Low drying requirement  Local markets for product  Low GHG emissions

Jeremy Rix NORTH ENERGY ASSOCIATES LTD Life Cycle Assessment for AB Systems Wetland Biomass to Bioenergy thank you