Managing and using biomass can deliver substantial benefits in terms of increased biodiversity, local amenity and even rehabilitation of land and water courses.

Managing existing woodlands may be seen by landowners as an expensive luxury. As a result, many of our native woodlands are poorly managed and when this happens, just like with a home or car, they fall into disrepair. The opportunity of deriving an income from wood which has no other commercial value can act as a catalyst to bringing such forest or woodland back into productive use. Sound management also maximises the opportunity for local flora and fauna. Growing energy crops such as SRC (short rotation coppice) also has important land, biodiversity, environment and soil conservation benefits. For example, such crops have higher yields per land unit than traditional ones and in certain cases can be successfully grown in low fertility or abandoned land. The successful integration of energy crop schemes in current agricultural systems has been shown to markedly increase the populations of certain songbirds (often in decline elsewhere), raptors (birds of prey), and animals on the ground such as deer which find the cover afforded by the crop very much to their liking.