FARMERS producing crops and trees for the renewable energy industry have been given a boost by the Government.

Ministers have announced a plan to help biomass production - burning crops, such as wood, to create energy.

Burning biomass instead of coal or gas creates less greenhouse gas emissions.

The Government this week announced a capital grant scheme for biomass boilers, grant support for biomass supply chains and a commitment to consider using biomass heating in Government buildings.

The report is in response to 42 recommendations put forward in October by the Biomass Task Force, led by Sir Ben Gill, former president of the National Farmers' Union, who farms at Easingwold, near York.

Its main argument, that biomass was particularly suited for generating heat, has been accepted by the Government.

Ministers said electricity generated from biomass, and combined heat and power, were also an important part of the future.

Minister for Sustainable Food and Farming at the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs Lord Bach said: "There is enormous potential in biomass, to generate renewable energy, to help the environment and to provide another possible market for our farmers.

"We know that biomass is not the answer to every issue facing us, but we should be getting much more from this valuable resource."

Minister for Energy Malcolm Wicks said the target was to produce ten per cent of electricity from renewable sources by 2010, and twice that by 2020.

"Biomass will have an increasingly important role to play in the UK's future energy mix," he said.

The Government has agreed in principle to support energy crops under the Rural Development Programme for England, which will be introduced next year.

It is also planning to set up a biomass energy centre, run by the Forestry Commission, to act as a major hub for bioenergy advice.

The Government announcement will also be a boost for Teesside's £60m renewable energy power station, which SembCorp Utilities is building at Wilton.

Farmers, landowners and businesses have been enlisted to supply willow coppice for the 300,000 tonnes of wood burned by the plant each year. By 2011, about 20 per cent must be sourced from wood grown within 50 miles of the plant.