A new £4.8M project funded by the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy (BEIS) to increase biomass crops grown in the UK, launched at Low Carbon Agriculture Show at the NAEC, Stoneleigh, on 7th February 2023.
Biomass Connect is a new initiative that will showcase best-practice and innovations in biomass feedstock production at sites across the UK and through a biomass Information hub.
At Terravesta, we are working with Biomass Connect to ensure farmers and the industry have the latest information on Miscanthus. We attended the launch at the show and shared a stand with our partners at IBERS Aberystwyth University, to speak to farmers in interested in growing Miscanthus.
Dr Jeanette Whitaker, Biomass Connect lead and principal scientist in soils and land use at the UK Centre for Ecology & Hydrology (UKCEH), says the project is about supporting land managers to plant more sustainable biomass crops. “Our project will act as a focal point for the biomass industry, supporting the expansion of sustainable biomass production in the UK.
“The Climate Change Committee indicates that expansion of biomass feedstock cultivation from 10,000 ha to 730,000 ha by 2050 is required to deliver net zero for the UK. This will require significant changes in agricultural land use over the coming decades,” says Jeanette.
Biomass Connect has been created to help support the scale-up of biomass crops, including Miscanthus.
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