Renewable Energy

The CLA is lobbying for an early review of Feed-in Tariff (FIT) rates to fix the mistakes made by the last Government.

We want realistic rates - without them farmers and landowners are unlikely to invest in the numbers needed to hit Government targets. The red tape also needs to be stripped out of requirements for the FIT and the Renewable Heat Incentive (RHI).

Read our new CLA lobby agenda on renewables in full. It was launched with the International Energy Agency biogas upgrading technologies review at a packed meeting in the House of Lords on 8 June. (Posted: 10 June 2010).

The Government looks likely to miss its target on wind energy - read the report in The Daily Telegraph.

Policy

The CLA calls on the Government to:

• Raise Feed-in Tariff rates to fix the last Government's mistakes,
• Ensure the Renewable Heat Incentive is delivered in April 2011 with red tape stripped out,
• Build an off-shore electricty grid, incentivise smart grids and change the connection regime,
• Give cash back for energy-saving investments,
• Prioritise support for some renewable transport fuels, including biomethane, to reward carbon savings,
• Support sustainable waste use rather than landfill avoidance and incineration, and
• Help renewables through planning presumptions in their favour.

Review of biogas upgrading

Members who want to invest in biogas may be interested in the review of biogas upgrading by the International Energy Agency Task 37. This was launched in the House of Lords with CLA support on 8 June.

It covers research and development and best practice in the processes of upgrading raw biogas to biomethane, so that it can be injected into the gas grid or used as vehicle fuel.

The Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, Chris Huhne, was at the launch, along with representatives from industry, Government and politicians. (Posted: 10 June 2010)

Save money if you are investing in renewables

If you are bringing in renewable energy plants and machinery from outside Britain, you may be losing as much as five percent because of the bank exchange rate.

You may be able to save money through using the CLA's Foreign Exchange Services. If you fix the exchange rate on a large purchase like a wind turbine you may also be able to save thousands of pounds. Read more here.

Visit our Renewable Energy stand at the 2011 CLA Game Fair at Blenheim Palace

Members are encouraged to visit the Renewable Energy stall at the CLA Game Fair, where Chief Surveyor, Oliver Harwood, will be on hand to give advice. See the right-hand column for full details of the Fair.

Feed-in Tariffs

The new Feed-in Tariff (FIT) provides guaranteed prices for generators of renewable electricity up to 5MW. This mechanism is very effective in engaging land managers and farmers in the 23 EU member states that operate the system.

But the level at which the Government set the FIT for anaerobic digesters in February was potentially disastrous.

The CLA has been contacted since then by many farmers cancelling long-planned investments in digesters because the returns meant the money could not be justified.

The assumptions made by the Department of Energy and Climate Change (DECC) when setting the tariffs were simply incorrect. Maize silage is not free. Engines driving generators do not last for 20 years without major overhaul costs.

The CLA has given detailed accurate evidence on costs. The returns given in Germany are much higher – as a result 4,500 anaerobic digesters are in use there.

Happily for farmers in Northern Ireland, the NI Government takes a different view: The CLA applauds the Northern Ireland Department of Enterprise Trade and Investment’s proposals ( www.detini.gov.uk/niro_2011_consultation_document_with_tracked_changes_accepted.pdf ) in Northern Ireland for a significant funding increase from the current 2 Renewable Obligation Certificates (worth about 9p/kWh) up to 4 ROCs for Anaerobic Digestion up to 500kW (worth about 18p/kWh) and 3 ROCs up to 5MW (worth about 14.5p/kWh) (subject to EU State Aids approval) from April 2011 and wishes that DECC would take the same view. 

Members will find detailed advice in our CLA guidance note on Feed-In Tariffs

The CLA recently attended a meeting with the new Government Ministers where they promised a new and revised "action plan for Anaerobic Digestion" and to consult CLA closely on the agenda. The previous Government's Anaerobic Digestion Implementation Plan (which may be downloaded here) is now, effectively, out of date.

Consultations

The CLA responded to the consultation on the DECC Renewable Heat Incentive (RHI). We have been pressing for it to be available in hard-to-heat houses as well as modern, well-insulated ones. The devil lies in the details, which are still being worked on.

Lessons to be learned from Sweden

Sweden is working to develop the technology to turn waste wood into gas, an advance which could benefit British owners of woodland in the future. It has already buildtseveral hundred anaerobic digestors.

CLA Chief Surveyor Oliver Harwood said: "Sweden sees the use of biogas for transport as key for the rural economy - it puts its farmers and foresters at the heart of its plans for renewable energy."

Sweden is the leading country in using biogas for transport - it already has 25,000 vehicles running on the fuel and over 100 filling stations stocking it. CLA members could benefit if Britain follows.

In May, Oliver led a study tour there so that officials from the Department for Transport and the Health and Safety Executive could see grid injection and the use of biogas for vehicle fuel in Malmo.

UK Renewable Strategy

In 2008, the Government consulted on a new renewable strategy to meet binding EU targets including 20 percent of total energy supply from renewables, and 10 percent of its transport fuels from biofuels.

The Department for Energy and Climate Change is charged with meeting these challenging targets. Without realistic support for those investing in renewable technology, these targets will not be met.

The Energy Act 2008

The Energy Act introduced banding of the Renewables Obligation (RO) – the main support for renewables – to give more support to biogas and biomass.

Amendments made in the House of Lords also give the Government power to introduce guaranteed prices for small-scale renewable electricity generation and renewable heat, as well as putting carbon saving higher up the energy regulator’s remit.

CLA renewable policy recommendations

Download "Renewable Energy – more than wind” summary and recommendations" (873 Kb)

Download the full policy paper - "Renewable Energy – more than wind” (1.1 Mb)

The CLA welcomes the Government's recognition of the potential for renewable energy from the land and, in particular, the decision to band the Renewable Obligation to offer double the support to biomass Combined Heat and Power, and Anaerobic Digestion (Biogas) installations.

The work being undertaken by the Waste Resources Action Programme to deliver a digestate protocol to enable the output from biogas to be treated as biofertiliser rather than waste is welcome.

Banding is described in more detail below.

However, more action is required in order to secure the investment needed, and to deliver the potential of carbon saving:

• The Energy Regulator's objectives mean it must take action to put carbon in equal first place. As set out by the Sustainable Development Commission in its hard-hitting report "Lost in Transmission" the CLA has called on Ofgem to require and reward electricity companies to connect up new renewables speedily and at low cost.
• As described in "Renewable Heat - more than wind" and in the Strategy for Sustainable Heat, the Government must take steps to secure long-term stable support mechanisms for the delivery of renewable heat. This was enabled in the Energy Act 2008, and the CLA is currently working with DECC officials to help design the new support.
• The Feed-in Tariff provides guaranteed prices for generators of renewable electricity up to 5MW. This has already been very effective in engaging household and business investors, including land managers, in 23 EU states.

Biomass and woodfuel

The CLA continues to play its part, both in advising DECC and Defra on policies and instruments to support renewables and in its work with the Forestry Commission.

Biomass (woodfuel from existing woodlands and energy crops such as miscanthus and short-rotation coppice willow) is a carbon-friendly fuel widely used in many other EU states for energy. The CLA lobbies for support for the use of biomass, and advises members on the policy and practicalities.

Renewable Heat

CLA lobbying, with others, has been successful in persuading the Government to introduce support for Renewable Heat, which is proposed by the new Renewable Heat Incentive (RHI) due to be launched in 2011.

The promised announcement on how the RHI is to be funded did not appear as planned in the Budget. The CLA has long argued that renewable heat cannot compete for funding with urgent pressing expenditures and the need for savings. The only logical way to fund it is by a levy on fossil fuel bills - on the "polluter pays" principle.

The CLA supports an incentive delivered via a guaranteed price mechanism for heat. It should provide additional stimulus for building-integrated and micro-power solutions – both areas where existing policies have had limited impact.

Existing limited grant aid has failed to deliver a step change in the delivery of renewable heat. We lag far behind our EU neighbours and are missing opportunities. (Posted: 8 April 2010)

Benefits of a Renewable Heat Incentive

An obligation on energy suppliers has proven to be an effective way of stimulating change, without imposing a financial burden on taxpayers.

This should be mirrored in the heat sector, so that the burden of support for renewable heat falls on consumers who use fossil fuels for heating.

The heat sector in particular would encourage the biomass industry, with substantial positive effects in agriculture and the rural economy. It would work with the RO and FIT to stimulate combined heat and power systems.

An accreditation process will be required to grant generators of renewable heat certificates matching their metered output in any given month.

The levy to fund the certificates should be placed on suppliers of fossil fuel heating fuels e.g. gas suppliers, coal, coke and oil suppliers. There is no one license that identifies these bodies; they are limited in number and all have a relationship with Customs and Excise that allows for their easy identification.

Retailers of small volumes of heating fuels i.e. garage forecourts, would not be included in the obligation.

A list of accredited sites could be set up and administered by Ofgem for metered sources of renewable heat. Any site could be accredited providing adequate metering systems are in place.

Ofgem, most energy suppliers, and a number of renewable heat generators are already involved in the RO, so already comfortable with the administration and operation of the applicable systems.

Biogas (Anaerobic Digestion)

The Government has listened to the CLA's concern, echoed by others, that many were being held back from investing in biogas because of a lack of guaranteed support.

The Budget announced guaranteed support at current levels for Anaerobic Digestion (AD) and energy from waste with combined heat and power. A minimum support is also guaranteed for dedicated biomass. (Posted: 8 April 2010)

The CLA lobbies for better recognition of the widespread benefits of biogas. The CLA, through its support of "Task 37 UK", the UK not-for-profit company set up to promote biogas, works to ensure that the latest technological and market advances from other countries in the International Energy Agency (IEA) are made available to UK investors. The IEA website may be accessed here.

Dr Clare Lukehurst and Oliver Harwood are directors of Task 37 UK, a company limited by guarantee, set up with support from the CLA to promote and promulgate the latest biogas technology across the UK.

Clare, a CLA member, is also the UK representative on the International Energy Agency Task 37 which covers biogas.

Many other biogas proponents and businesses are also CLA members, and benefit from the lobbying, networking and advice the CLA can offer.

The CLA is especially grateful to Clare for all her hard work, not least in organising biogas study tours to Northern Ireland, Denmark, Sweden and further afield, from which many CLA members have benefited.

The CLA fought hard to get biogas technology recognition in the Biomass Task Force report and the Energy White Paper.

We continue to work with Government in the Biomass Implementation Advisory Group and look forward to the Government's conclusions on the best way to support renewable heat – a major output of biogas installations.

The CLA emphasises the wide-ranging environmental and other benefits of biogas deployment.

We address the barriers to it – not least of which is ignorance – and work to securing support for what is an infant industry in the UK, though well developed elsewhere in Europe.

We continue to make the point to the Environment Agency (EA) that applying waste regulations to slurry or manure that has been digested (even if food quality crops such as maize have been added) makes no sense at all, given that undigested manure is not subject to waste regulations.

Anaerobic Digestion kills pathogens and weed seeds, making digestate a safer product than raw manure.

Other EU States (apart from France) do not subject manure-based digestate to waste regulations, though all comply with the EU waste directive.

We have had partial success on the waste question, but the proposed exemption for farm-based biogas plants is still under discussion.

Banding the Renewables Obligation

The Energy Act 2008 bands the Renewables Obligation.This follows more than five years of consistent and strong CLA lobbying for banding.

What is banding?
Banding applies different levels of support and incentives to different technologies.

Put simply, the CLA’s recommendation – now accepted by the Government – is that newer, higher-cost technologies such as biogas generation, should attract more support than lower-cost, established technologies like wind power.

Banding boosts emerging technologies, enabling them to compete on an equal footing in the long-term.

How will livestock farmers profit?
Livestock farmers, faced with investment challenges in the Nitrates Vulnerable Zone review, may be able to use the reformed Renewables Obligation to develop a profitable enterprise by boosting storage capacity, making money from renewable electricity sales and meeting their heat needs for dairy washings.

At the same time they can save on fertiliser bills and help improve water and air quality.

How did the CLA lobby succeed?

• Responding robustly to each of the three energy reviews and to every consultation on the drafting of the Renewable Obligation,
• Making a strong response to the energy review, backed up with meetings with DTI officials,
• Carefully scrutinising the Utilities Bill and proposing specific recommendations,
• Lobbying members of Parliament across all parties, and senior civil servants,
• Convincing strong allies, such as The Royal Commission on Environmental Pollution, of our case, and providing evidence of the facts on the ground, drawing on wider European experience and,
• Setting out our reasoned analysis and recommendations for energy policy in a major report "Renewable Energy – more than wind."

The lobby timeline

2008 The Energy Act is passed, introducing banding from April 2009.

2007 The Government’s Energy White Paper is published in May 2007 confirming the Government proposal to Band the Obligation in 2010.

- It accepts the CLA’s argument for banding the Renewables Obligation stating: “banding would best deliver the Government’s aims of bringing forward emerging renewable technologies; improving the overall cost-effectiveness of the RO, and preserving investor confidence by applying changes only to new projects.”

2006 The CLA continues to campaign robustly through press and parliamentary lobbying.

2005 The CLA publishes a major report with analysis and recommendations for energy policy, including banding. Copies of "Renewable Energy – more than wind" are widely distributed in an opportunity to influence Government policy.

- A section on the CLA website is devoted to the CLA’s original policy ideas on renewable energy.

- The CLA takes its campaign for banding to major events throughout the year and responds to both the Environmental Audit Committee Inquiry and the DTI Energy Review.

2004 The CLA responds to the DTI consultation on Terms of Reference for the 2005-6 Review of the Renewables Obligation.

2003 The CLA responds to the DTI consultation on the Renewables Obligation (amendment) Order 2003, warning that without banding the Government will not achieve its 2010 target for either renewable electricity production or Greenhouse Gas (GHG) reduction.

2002 The CLA continues to call for banding through its press and parliamentary work – briefing all members of both Houses on the Renewable Obligation Order and responding to consultations from both the DTI and the Cabinet Office.

2001 The Government introduces the Renewable Obligation Order. The CLA President warns both the then Secretary of State for Agriculture, and the Environment Minister, that the Renewable Obligation will not promote biomass power.

2000 The CLA briefs the House of Lords throughout the passage of the Utilities Bill, consistently calling for banding and proposing specific amendments with the support of Lord Jenkin of Roding.

- CLA evidence persuades the Royal Commission on Environmental Pollution to publish calls for banding in its Biomass report and to make this submission to the DTI Renewables Obligation Preliminary Consultation.

1999 The CLA calls for a scheme supporting the emerging technologies of biomass energy in response to DTI consultation on new and renewable energy.

Biofuels

The CLA supported the introduction of the Renewable Transport Fuel Obligation (RTFO).

Current lobbying seeks to ensure that imported biofuels match the sustainablility criteria demanded of those grown in the EU under the strict CAP regime that protects "Good Agricultural and Environmental Conditions" and both natural resources (soil, air and water) and habitat in the EU.

The CLA supports the work being undertaken by the Low Carbon Vehicle Partnership, and welcomes the moves towards implementation of better carbon assurance for biofuels.

The key issue is that public support for biofuels, in the CLA's view, should be directly related to the carbon saving and other benefits that they can deliver.

The question of "food v fuel" is much more related to world demand and imports. The UK has the land, previously in set-aside, and an excess productive capacity which has, in the past, led to dumping of our grains on world markets.

It is clear that an increased demand for biofuels will tend to increase crop prices, but the effects are hard to determine, given the wide range of other influences on the world price of grain.

The bigger issue is the indirect effects. Demand for biofuel feedstock can increase the felling of rainforest and other high nature value habitat.

The CLA is delighted to have helped persuade the EU Commission that where biofuel comes from such important habitats it will not qualify for support under the RTFO and will not count towards the EU biofuels target.

We continue to work with the Renewable Fuels Agency to press for the early introduction of legislation to enforce sustainability.

The CLA continues to argue for support for businesses that produce biofuels from waste cooking oil to be continued through the current fuel duty concession. We have been successful in this in the Finance Act 2010.

We also lobby for more support for "flex fuel" vehicles which can use varying and higher percentages of biofuels.

The CLA has been instrumental in bringing the potential for vehicles fuelled on renewable gas (made by Anaerobic Digestion or gasification of waste and waste wood) to the attention of the Government.

Biomethane offers better carbon savings than almost any other biofuel. Gas-powered vehicles offer wider benefits, including better air quality - no soot or fumes - and reduced vehicle noise.

The CLA is particularly concerned that biofuel processors should use best available techniques for low carbon processing of the feedstock in order to ensure the best carbon savings.

Prof Nigel Mortimer of North Energy Asociates has demonstrated the very large differences in carbon savings and the potential for carbon neutrality, if renewables are used to power fuel processing.

See the paper he gave to the Agricultural Economics Society "Carbon Life Cycle Analyses"

The CLA responded to the Renewable Fuels Agency “Gallagher Review” where the sustainability of biofuels targets was discussed.
Further information is available on the RFA website

Most recently CLA has publically attacked importers of biofuels that do not meet UK sustainability standards. See our media releases page for details.

Small-scale renewables

Obligation mechanisms are not well suited to support for small scale renewables at a farm or household level.

Grant aid, as has been delivered under various Government schemes in the past, has failed to secure a step change in deployment.

The CLA welcomes the introduction of a Feed-in Tariff on a similar basis as is operated in Germany for microgeneration.

Other renewable policy reports

The Biomass Task Force reported its recommendations (available here) in 2006, and the CLA is part of the Biomass Implementation Advisory Group which is advising on, and monitoring the delivery of the Task Force recommendations.

The Government has published the Microgeneration Strategy, which may be downloaded here.

The CLA supported the Green Alliance and others in the design and launch of a strategy for sustainable heat, available here.

At the same time, the Forestry Commission, after consulting the CLA and others, published its “Woodfuel Strategy” available here, calling for the release of two million tonnes of wood to be used for heating fuel, either in woodchip or woodpellets.

The Biomass Strategy, which sets out a path to delivery of up to one million hectares of land for energy crops - both biofuel and biomass, may be downloaded here .

CLA Renewable Energy advisory handbooks are available from the CLA Publications department on 020 7235 0511.

Currently available are Biomass, Biogas, and Wind, priced at £36 each (special member price £29) inc p&p.

The handbooks cover the practicalities of investment in renewables from a land manager's perspective, and provide advice and links to information on the relevant policy supports (including grant aid) and regulations affecting development of a successful project.

Reader comments

"Thank you for sending me a copy of the Wind handbook. It is a very comprehensive publication, covers just about everything and is well presented. Congratulations!"

"The Biogas handbook represents the condensed version of biogas technology that I envisaged - clear, concise and illustrative."

"The handbook is a very useful guide for those developing their farm-based biogas projects"

CLA Renewable Energy Guidance Notes available free to CLA members with advice on many aspects of renewables.

CLA Renewable Energy Consultation Responses available free to all members and non-members.

Links to external websites

The Government's green energy website

The Department for Energy and Climate Change (DECC) - the Government's energy department

International Energy Agency Bioenergy Task 37 - the international resource for infomation and updates on Anaerobic Digestion

www.biogas-info.co.uk/ - the Government's portal for UK information on biogas

www.biomassenergycentre.org.uk  - the Forestry Commission's expert advice service on all biomass matters

Renewable Energy Association - the trade association for renewables

British Wind Energy Association - now renamed Renewables UK - covering wind (on and offshore) and offshore wave power

Farming Futures - its renewables page gives excellent case studies of farmers' experience of renewable technologies.

Geronimo - the new European Dairy Portal with advice on saving energy and interactive support with dairy farmers from around the EU.

The RICS information paper on renewables for surveyors, (prepared with significant help and advice from the CLA) available to RICS members.