Scotland: Biomass power generation the ecological emperor's new clothes?
All carbon combustion produces double its weight in carbon dioxide so that even if dry timber were produced on site, its burning would not eliminate one molecule of greenhouse gas. Biomass electricity claims to be carbon neutral only in that the generated in combustion is supposedly balanced by that extracted from the air and locked into trees in the form of carbon.As for the commercial viability of biomass power generation, the only publicised funding for the Lockerbie enterprise is £18 million from the National Lottery. But there are many funding sources for both the establishment of plant and the growing of its timber requirement, ranging from exemptions from inheritance and income tax for forestry to the Bioenergy Capital Grants scheme which provided major funding for Lockerbie. And of course financial support is also available from the EU, which introduced the Biomass Action Plan to produce stronger and sustainable economic growth and to enhance international co-operation in an integrated and coherent energy policy throughout the Union. It would appear to be Germany, rather than Scotland, that is reaching out beyond its borders.
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