[Editor's Note: This article originally appearedon BusinessGreen.com, and is reprinted with permission.]

The UK could meet half its renewable energy target for 2020 through the use of energy from waste (EfW), landfill gas, anaerobic digestion and second generation biofuels, according to a major new report fromCranfield University.

Biomass-based energy has traditionally played second fiddle in the UK to investment in wind energy, but the new report, entitled "Renewable Energy, Landfill Gas and EfW: Now, Next and Future" {PDF] argues that EfW systems alone could theoretically contribute around 11 Mtoe of biogas by 2020, contributing to half of the UK's 15 per cent renewable energy target.

However, report author Kofi Apea Adu-Gyamfi warned that the rapid expansion of waste and biomass-based power would require "considerable" financial support and political backing from government.

The report further warns that the success of EfW depends on far-sighted policies that ensure that investment in feedstock availability matches the emergence of new EfW and biomass power plants in order to prevent feedstock shortages.

Similarly, the study argues that the government must oversee a gradual shift from landfill gas to other form of EfW technology, as waste policies are expected to reduce the amount of biodegradable waste being sent to landfill sites over the next 10 years.

The report also identifies a number of areas for expansion in the use of waste-based power, including the wider use of biomethane as a road transport fuel and the deployment of small-scale EfW deployment at community level.

"These two options are easily implementable and could provide substantial savings in greenhouse gas emissions," it says.

The report recommends a number of new policies to support the roll out of new technologies, including the introduction of subsidies for biomethane-powered cars, which it expects to cost about £2,500 more than equivalent models.

In addition, it proposes that discounted energy tariffs and free domestic hot water for people living near waste-to-energy plants in order to help alleviate public opposition to developments that are frequently branded as incinerators.