Climate change risking availability of key alternative fuel source, study says

The research, published Wednesday in the journal Nature, says that rising temperatures risk reducing the opportunities to maximize use of biomass -- which is plant-based material, like wood and waste, that can be developed into fuel.

The study was conducted by researchers at the universities of York and Fudan in China.

"Biomass fuels and feedstocks offer a renewable source of energy and a viable alternative to petrochemicals, but the results of our study act as a stark warning about how climate change will put their availability at risk if we continue to allow global temperatures to rise," co-author and professor James Clark said according to Phys.org.

"There is a tipping point where climate change will severely impede our ability to mitigate against its worst effects. Biomass with carbon capture and storage including the manufacture of bio-based chemicals must be used now if we are to maximize its advantage."

The new research noted that climate change on crop yields could reduce capacity for large-scale bioenergy, as well as threaten food security.

The scientists examined global data on crop yields and the impact of rising average temperatures to produce the study.

Biomass with carbon capture and storage, or BECCS, is a carbon reduction strategy in which biomass is converted into heat or electricity and its carbon emissions are captured and stored in geological formations or other items. Scientists consider BECCS to be an important part of the global strategy to reduce carbon emissions and hit key climate targets.

The new research says that global warming could increase between 1.7 and 3.7 degrees Celsius by the year 2200 if BECCS is delayed by just 20 years. The result would be global food insecurity and the need to meet even more difficult targets.