UK’s bioenergy crop area rises 40% in 2016/2017: government figures

The area of crops used for biofuels saw an increase of 40% between 2015/16 and 2016/17, according to data released last week by the UK’s Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra).

The data showed that the area of crops grown for bioenergy equated to just over 2% of all arable land in the UK in 2016, while 53% of land used for bioenergy in 2016 was for biofuel (biodiesel and bioethanol) for the UK road transport market.

The Defra figures showed that 132,000 hectares of agricultural land was used for bioenergy crops in the UK in 2016 comprising: 66,000 of wheat, 52,000 of maize, 3,000 of sugar beet, 7,000 of miscanthus, and 3,000 of short rotation coppice.

Defra said that the 40% increase in the area of crops used for biofuels only translated to an 11% increase in the volume of biofuel produced (195 million litres in 2015/16 rising to 217 million litres in 2016/17).

“This disparity reflects a change in the balance of sugar beet and wheat used and lower crop yields in 2016, which saw a return to more typical levels following record highs for some crops in 2015,” Defra said.

The UK government figures also showed that the total volume of UK sourced biofuels used in the UK in 2016/17 was 411 million litres/kilogrammes, an increase of 6% compared with the volume of UK sourced biofuels in 2015/16.

Compared with 2015/16, the volume of UK sourced biodiesel for UK road transport increased by 2% to 192 million litres, mainly driven by an increase in the use of food waste and brown grease.

For bioethanol the increase was 11%, to 217 million litres, partly due to rises in the volumes of wheat and corn (maize).