Seven prominent UK energy trade associations have welcomed the government’s biomass strategy while urging immediate government action to enable effective bioenergy with carbon capture and storage (BECCS) implementation.

The energy trade bodies are particularly encouraged by the strategy’s robust evidence-driven foundation, underpinning its formulation and providing a solid basis for effective implementation.

They said: “It is encouraging that the Government has taken a strong evidence-based approach to the development of biomass strategy, engaging with a wide set of industry stakeholders.

“This has particularly been the case when looking at sustainability, where the UK has led the world in developing regulations that ensure that biomass is always sustainable, whether imported or from the UK.

“The strategy recognises that feedstocks come from a complex range of sources, including forestry, agriculture residues, energy crops, waste wood and other residual waste streams.”

Despite the positive reception, the joint letter to minister Graham Stuart underscores a pressing need for accelerated progress.

The letter, seen by Energy Live News, states: “There is, though, an urgent need to go further in the next few months. It is critical that ministers provide workable routes to market for “negative emissions” made possible by BECCS.

“This proven technology removes carbon dioxide from the atmosphere, directly addressing the cause of our hotter climate. The government must act now to make it possible to deliver BECCS at all scales, or we will be left without a crucial tool for tackling climate change.”

The coalition of trade associations includes the Association for Renewable Energy and Clean Technology, Energy UK, Wood Recyclers Association, The Association for Decentralised Energy, Carbon Capture and Storage Association, UK Pellet Council and Coalition for Negative Emissions.