Sustainability

Biomass, from sustainable sources, is regarded as a promising long-term renewable energy source which has the potential to address both environmental impacts and security concerns posed by our dependence on fossil fuels.

As a storable, concentrated energy form it allows electricity generation 24 hours a day, 365 days a year, in contrast to intermittent sources such as wind or solar.

Biomass generation can play a major part in helping the UK meet its demanding renewable energy targets.

Our aim is to maximise its potential.

Click here to download the Tees Renewable Energy Plant Sustainability Q&A briefing document

At MGT we see biomass as the next phase of the solution.

To maximise the potential of biomass, MGT Power intends to utilise energy crops - crops planted specifically for use as fuel.

• Short Rotation Forestry (eg. Eucalyptus, Pines)
• Short Rotation Coppicing (eg. Willow, Poplar)
• Perennial Grasses (eg. Miscanthus, Switchgrass)

Re-growth replaces harvest, creating a carbon neutral fuel to replace fossil fuels, but energy crops offer many other environmental advantages:

• Very low fertilizer and chemical inputs
• Enduring plantations create permanent carbon storage on land
• Mixed species culture, late harvest and prolonged cover benefit wildlife

MGT Power is committed to using the most suitable independent trace and certification scheme for each source of biomass, and will never procure fuels that contribute to the loss of areas of protected habitat or areas of high ecological value.

In fact, MGT Power believes in not only using certification schemes and anticipating sustainability standards likely to be introduced under European legislation, but in going beyond these efforts by targeting the globally abundant marginal land resource, which holds great potential for sustainable bioenergy production without competition for land space with nature or food crops.

At MGT we are committed to building a sustainable future. We aim to maximise the potential of biomass and we welcome efforts to ensure biomass makes only the most positive contribution. To this end we have drawn up the following set of sustainability guiding principles to which we will adhere in all our fuel procurement activities.

We will:

PROTECT Bio-Diversity

• not procure biomass extracted from areas of protected or vulnerable biodiversity
• not source biomass from plantations whose establishment has directly contributed to loss of high conservation value habitats, or threatened protected or endangered species
• work to ensure that our biomass procurement does not create a loss of biodiversity through displacement of other activities
• use our influence to try to enhance biodiversity within existing operations wherever we work

CONTRIBUTE to the Reduction of Greenhouse Gases

• fully audit the production of greenhouse gases throughout the lifecycle of our biomass and report the results every year
• commit to ensuring that the life-cycle emissions of our biomass are at least 80% lower than either coal or gas*
• wherever it is commercially reasonable to do so, seek to go even further than the 80% reduction
• ensure no release of greenhouse gases from the soil of forests or agricultural lands, on a net basis across the overall area of our procurement activities and across the life of each power station

PREVENT Competition with Food

• avoid high quality agricultural land suitable for arable food crop production, and target marginal land
• not procure biomass where establishment has displaced food production that was important on either a local, national or global scale
• not procure biomass grown on land which has any other cultural, social or economic value specific to the local community

BUILD Social and Economic Value in the Community

• contribute to the social and economic wellbeing of employees and the local population in areas where our biomass is grown or managed
• seek to ensure that our suppliers maintain the best recognised standards for health and safety and equal opportunities

PROMOTE long term health of the land

• ensure all suppliers employ best practise to protect – and where possible enhance - soil, water (both ground and surface) and air quality
• not procure biomass where water has been used unsustainably or irresponsibly for irrigation

* Based on average full life-cycle emissions for coal and gas as used for power production in the UK each year, for the equivalent unit of electricity produced.

MGT are an active part of ongoing bioenergy sustainability policy discussions, partly through sponsorship of IEA Task 40 Sustainable International Bioenergy Trade: Securing Supply and Demand (www.bioenergytrade.org). We welcome the debate on sustainability standards for biomass in the UK via the Renewables Obligation or through the European Renewable Energy Directive. These guiding principles, as part of MGT's sustainability policy, aim to anticipate development of such future policy; they do not aim to replace it.