“It is imperative” the COP25 conference produces “significant results now” states the President of UN General Assembly, Tijjani Muhammad-Bande. The Paris Agreement limit of a 2 degree rise in the global temperature is at serious risk of not being met if we continue to increase global emissions.
However, yesterday and today, Environment Ministers and Finance Ministers arrived in Madrid to give directions to their officials so that the COP25 talks can become less about what the goals are and more about how to achieve these goals – by introducing the High-Level Segment of the COP25 Conference so we can continue to develop schemes such as the Biomass Suppliers List (BSL) that Gemserv manage to encourage consumer best practice in terms of using alternative sources of energy for heat.
Gemserv contributes to the UK’s transition to renewable energy targets through its management and administration for the Department for Business, Energy & Industrial Strategy (BEIS). Gemserv are currently the scheme administrators for the BSL which supports the Government’s Renewable Heat Incentive (RHI) scheme. The RHI incentivises the uptake of renewable heat technologies in households, such as ground to water heat pumps or biomass boilers. Suppliers of woodfuel register onto the BSL, enabling them to sell approved sustainable wood fuel to consumers with a biomass boiler. Recipients of woodfuel via the BSL can then claim RHI payments.
Significant success has been seen through the BSL. Whilst the sustainability criteria for the BSL refers to the lifecycle carbon footprint of the woodfuel to be no more than 34.8g/CO2 per MJ, the average across all woodfuels is 6.92g/CO2 per MJ. There are over 5,000 suppliers with over 10,000 BSL authorised fuels and the BSL continues to develop. As fuels have improved, we’ve added thermally modified fuels into the register allowing a greater choice and more opportunity for a larger number of households to use a more sustainable woodfuel. Burning cleaner woodfuel to heat your home has significantly lowered carbon emissions than using a traditional gas/electric boiler.
The BSL illustrates how more households and businesses are utilising woodfuel for heat, reducing demand for carbon-intensive energy but also making a significant cost saving through the RHI. This scheme paves the way for other decarbonisation schemes that we look forward to collaborating with BEIS on, whilst continuing our developments in the BSL and RHI.
