Salient Issue | Strengths | Limitations |
---|---|---|
Land Availability | Widespread uptake of second generation feedstocks. | Projected increases in yields for energy and food crops are a critical factor in achieving bioenergy land use targets. |
Land use change | Â | Positive and negative effects of land use change are not elaborated. Assumed to balance out giving net zero effects - an oversimplification. |
 |  | No consideration of potential for land use changes outside the UK, despite considerable pressure on domestic land use. |
Socio-economic factors | Underlying assumptions make allowances for the impact of increased energy crop deployment and their social implications. | Â |
 | Recognises the need for financial incentives for suppliers (e.g., farmers) uptake. | Assumed that farmers are incentivised to develop bioenergy, athough discussion is limited. |
Conversion Technologies | Detailed coverage of conversion technologies, future developments, and levels of influence on scenarios. | Â |
Bioenergy Imports | Attempt made to model bioenergy available for international trade. | Assumes imports are ‘carbon zero’ – major oversimplification leading to unreliable estimates of ‘greenhouse gas’ (GHG) savings. Simplification even more drastic when considering large volumes of imports under the DECC 2050 Pathways. |
 | Recognises the need for sustainability criteria regulating imports. |  |