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533363

registered interest
date	06/07/2016
answering body	Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy
answering dept id	201
answering dept short name	Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy
answering dept sort name	Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy
hansard heading	Biofuels
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what steps he has taken to engage with (a) coal generators and (b) the biomass sector on whether a future biomass auction will take place.
tabling member constituency	Brigg and Goole
tabling member printed	Andrew Percy
uin	42089
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 01/08/2016 answer text <p>We plan to hold the next Contracts for Difference allocation round in due course We will announce further details about the allocation round and engage with stakeholders in good time.</p> answering member constituency Hereford and South Herefordshire answering member printed Jesse Norman question first answered 01/08/2016 09:00:34 answering member 3991 label Biography information for Jesse Norman
tabling member	3939 label Biography information for Andrew Percy

524947

registered interest
date	14/06/2016
answering body	Department for Energy and Climate Change
answering dept id	63
answering dept short name	Energy and Climate Change
answering dept sort name	Energy and Climate Change
hansard heading	Biofuels
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, what consideration she has given to extending the support of biomass after 2027 to treat it equally with other low-carbon technologies.
tabling member constituency	Selby and Ainsty
tabling member printed	Nigel Adams
uin	40554
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 27/06/2016 answer text <p>We see the use of conversions of coal to biomass as a transitional technology. It has played a useful role in decarbonising the grid while other, lower carbon forms of energy generation, such as offshore wind continue to develop and lower their costs. Government support for biomass conversions are restricted to 2027 under the Renewables Obligation and Contract for Difference, however all other biomass technologies are eligible for the full 15 year life of the contract. We have no current plans to change those dates.</p> answering member constituency South Northamptonshire answering member printed Andrea Leadsom question first answered 27/06/2016 09:06:11 answering member 4117 label Biography information for Andrea Leadsom
tabling member	4057 label Biography information for Nigel Adams

524950

registered interest
date	14/06/2016
answering body	Department for Energy and Climate Change
answering dept id	63
answering dept short name	Energy and Climate Change
answering dept sort name	Energy and Climate Change
hansard heading	Biofuels
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, with reference to the Answer of 12 May 2016 to Question 36652 on biofuel, whether her Department has undertaken to consider whether it is appropriate for biomass conversions to compete alongside offshore wind or the allocation pot for established technologies.
tabling member constituency	Selby and Ainsty
tabling member printed	Nigel Adams
uin	40628
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 27/06/2016 answer text <p>We have not set out our plans in respect of biomass conversions. We will set out more details in relation to future Contracts for Difference (CfD) allocation rounds in due course.</p> answering member constituency South Northamptonshire answering member printed Andrea Leadsom question first answered 27/06/2016 09:03:19 answering member 4117 label Biography information for Andrea Leadsom
tabling member	4057 label Biography information for Nigel Adams

350046

registered interest
date	11/06/2015
answering body	Department for Transport
answering dept id	27
answering dept short name	Transport
answering dept sort name	Transport
hansard heading	Biofuels
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what estimate his Department has made of the contribution to (a) jobs and (b) GDP of sustainable fuels in the period up to 2030.
tabling member constituency	Poplar and Limehouse
tabling member printed	Jim Fitzpatrick
uin	2117
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 17/06/2015 answer text <p>The Department employed Ecofys UK Ltd. to produce an overview of the UK biofuel sector. The report was published in April 2014 at:</p><p><a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/consultations/renewable-transport-fuel-obligation-a-draft-post-implementation-review" target="_blank">https://www.gov.uk/government/consultations/renewable-transport-fuel-obligation-a-draft-post-implementation-review</a></p><p> </p><p>The analysis suggests that the UK’s total biofuel production capacity is over 1,500 million litres per year and that around 562 people are directly employed at the main UK biofuel plants. Additionally jobs in, for example, farming, transport and distribution will be supported by the UK’s sustainable biofuel industry. The report also estimates that several thousand in addition are supported by the Used Cooking Oil (UCO) collection industry.</p><p> </p><p>In March the Transport Energy Task Force reported on how the EU 2020 greenhouse gas emissions reduction and renewable transport fuel targets should be reflected in UK policy, and how sustainable low carbon fuels can help reduce greenhouse gas emissions from UK transport in the period to 2030 and beyond. This report was published at:</p><p><a href="http://www.lowcvp.org.uk/projects/transport-energy-task-force.htm" target="_blank">http://www.lowcvp.org.uk/projects/transport-energy-task-force.htm</a></p><p> </p><p>The Department is now considering the task force report carefully and will consult on any changes necessary to UK legislation. As part of that exercise we will also seek views on the wider potential economic benefits of biofuel production in the UK and the economic analysis underpinning our proposals.</p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p> answering member constituency Harrogate and Knaresborough answering member printed Andrew Jones question first answered 17/06/2015 13:27:09 answering member 3996 label Biography information for Andrew Jones
tabling member	197 label Biography information for Jim Fitzpatrick

101860

registered interest
date	30/10/2014
answering body	Department for Energy and Climate Change
answering dept id	63
answering dept short name	Energy and Climate Change
answering dept sort name	Energy and Climate Change
hansard heading	Biofuels
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, with reference to paragraph 4.6.25 of the Consultation Document on UK Renewable Energy Strategy, published on 26 June 2008, what plans his Department has to consult on (a) an MOT-type scheme for biomass boilers and (b) other arrangements to maintain emission standards.
tabling member constituency	Blackley and Broughton
tabling member printed	Graham Stringer
uin	212726
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 06/11/2014 answer text <p>Given the wide range of technologies supported by the Renewable Heat Incentive (RHI), we do not think it is practical to specify in legislation a particular level of maintenance or frequency of servicing. We believe that including such a provision risks being excessively burdensome or possibly misleading. The RHI requirement is that the equipment is maintained in line with manufacturer instructions. All products and installations under the RHI are covered under the Microgeneration Certification Scheme, which requires the provision of manufacturer instructions.</p><p>In our Government response to the RHI consultation in February 2013 ‘Providing Certainty, Improving Performance’ we set out our plans to introduce air quality emissions limits. Following this, air quality limits were introduced to the non-domestic RHI in September 2013, and the domestic RHI April 2014. We remain committed to reviewing these limits in the future.</p><p>Biomass boilers 1-50MW are covered under the Medium Sized Combustion Directive which is currently under negotiation in the EU. Defra, as lead department on air pollution, has been consulting on an ongoing basis with a number of stakeholders on a range of matters relating to these proposals. For boilers up to 500KW, emission limits were agreed as part of EU Ecodesign Regulations following stakeholder consultation.</p> answering member constituency Hastings and Rye answering member printed Amber Rudd question first answered 06/11/2014 17:12:39 answering member 3983 label Biography information for Amber Rudd previous answer version 26474 answering member constituency Hastings and Rye answering member printed Amber Rudd answering member 3983 label Biography information for Amber Rudd
tabling member	449 label Biography information for Graham Stringer

100372

registered interest
date	22/10/2014
answering body	Department for Energy and Climate Change
answering dept id	63
answering dept short name	Energy and Climate Change
answering dept sort name	Energy and Climate Change
hansard heading	Biofuels
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, what estimate he has made of the tonnage of carbon dioxide emitted by (a) the production processes, including drying, of biomass destined for UK power generation, (b) the transportation of biomass from all origins to power generation plants in the UK and (c) the transportation and disposal of fly ash arising from biomass combustion in the UK in the last year for which figures are available.
tabling member constituency	Monmouth
tabling member printed	David T. C. Davies
uin	211440
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 28/10/2014 answer text <p>The UK Government is bringing in sustainability criteria for those supplying biomass under the RO and RHI. These were initially introduced as reporting requirements from April 2014, with the intention of bringing in mandatory criteria from April 2015. No data has yebeen published.</p><p>In order to calculate the greenhouse gas saving of a fuel, suppliers are required to sum each of the emission components but are not required to report the component savings. It is the responsibility of generators to determine where in their supply chain the saving is made.</p><p>Power suppliers using bioliquids have had to comply with the Renewable Energy Directive’s sustainability criteria since 2011, which includes a 35% minimum greenhouse gas emissions saving. Ofgem reports on these emissions, the most recent figures are found in the Renewable Obligation annual report:</p><p><a href="https://www.ofgem.gov.uk/ofgem-publications/86392/roannualreport2012-13final.pdf" target="_blank">https://www.ofgem.gov.uk/ofgem-publications/86392/roannualreport2012-13final.pdf</a>.</p> answering member constituency Hastings and Rye answering member printed Amber Rudd question first answered 28/10/2014 16:32:47 answering member 3983 label Biography information for Amber Rudd
tabling member	1545 label Biography information for David T C Davies

100373

registered interest
date	22/10/2014
answering body	Department for Energy and Climate Change
answering dept id	63
answering dept short name	Energy and Climate Change
answering dept sort name	Energy and Climate Change
hansard heading	Biofuels
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, what the total subsidy was to (a) power generation by biomass and (b) domestic combustion of biomass in the UK in the last three years for which figures are available.
tabling member constituency	Monmouth
tabling member printed	David T. C. Davies
uin	211441
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 29/10/2014 answer text <p>The main mechanism of support for biomass1 power generation is the Renewables Obligation (RO). An estimate of support can be made by applying the share of RO certificates (ROCs) redeemed by suppliers, originating from biomass generation, to overall RO expenditure. This is given in the table below for 2011/12 to 2013/14.</p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><table><tbody><tr><td> </td><td><p><em>RO total expenditure (£m nominal)</em></p></td><td><p><em>Biomass share of ROCs redeemed (%)</em></p></td><td><p><em>Estimated biomass support under the RO (£m nominal)</em></p></td></tr><tr><td><p><strong><em>2011/12</em></strong></p></td><td><p>1,458</p></td><td><p>33.5</p></td><td><p>488.4</p></td></tr><tr><td><p><strong><em>2012/13</em></strong></p></td><td><p>1,991</p></td><td><p>31.9</p></td><td><p>635.1</p></td></tr><tr><td><p><strong><em>2013/14 (P)</em></strong></p></td><td><p>2,599</p></td><td><p>27.9</p></td><td><p>725.1</p></td></tr></tbody></table><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p>2013/14 data are provisional, Ofgem’s annual report will be published in February 2015.</p><p> </p><p>RO expenditure published in Ofgem’s RO annual reports, available at:</p><p> </p><p><a href="https://www.ofgem.gov.uk/environmental-programmes/renewables-obligation-ro" target="_blank">https://www.ofgem.gov.uk/environmental-programmes/renewables-obligation-ro</a></p><p> </p><p>ROCs redeemed by technology available at:</p><p> </p><p><a href="https://www.renewablesandchp.ofgem.gov.uk/Public/ReportManager.aspx?ReportVisibility=1&amp;ReportCategory=0" target="_blank">https://www.renewablesandchp.ofgem.gov.uk/Public/ReportManager.aspx?ReportVisibility=1&amp;ReportCategory=0</a> <em>(Compliance certificates report)</em>.</p><p> </p><p>Domestic combustion of biomass in the UK is currently supported by the Renewable Heat Incentive (RHI), but was previously covered by the Renewable Heat Premium Payment (RHPP) until April 2014. The table below gives figures for the amount of subsidy biomass boilers received in the last 3 years:</p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><table><tbody><tr><td><p><strong>Year</strong></p></td><td><p><strong>Total Spend on Biomass Boilers (Nominal Prices)</strong></p></td></tr><tr><td><p>2014</p></td><td><p>£1.9m</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>2013</p></td><td><p>£1.5m</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>2012</p></td><td><p>£0.9m</p></td></tr></tbody></table><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p><em><strong>[1]</strong></em><em> There is no single category for “biomass” under the RO. In this answer, we have defined biomass as the following generation types: Anaerobic Digestion, ACT, bioliquids, dedicated biomass, biomass conversions, EfW, landfill and sewage gas and CHP technologies. </em></p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p> answering member constituency Hastings and Rye answering member printed Amber Rudd question first answered 29/10/2014 17:23:05 answering member 3983 label Biography information for Amber Rudd
tabling member	1545 label Biography information for David T C Davies

91428

registered interest
date	10/09/2014
answering body	Department for Energy and Climate Change
answering dept id	63
answering dept short name	Energy and Climate Change
answering dept sort name	Energy and Climate Change
hansard heading	Biofuels
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, what estimate he has made of the tonnage of carbon dioxide emitted by (a) the production processes, including drying, of biomass destined for UK power generation, (b) the transportation of biomass from all origins to power generation plants in the UK and (c) the transportation and disposal of fly ash arising from biomass combustion in the UK in the most recent year for which figures are available.
tabling member constituency	Monmouth
tabling member printed	David T. C. Davies
uin	208923
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 13/10/2014 answer text <p>DECC’s Biomass Emissions And Counterfactual1 model has been developed to estimate overall greenhouse gas emissions associated with the delivered bioenergy to the UK from a number of regions for power generation, based on a scenario based life-cycle assessment technique. The overall estimates include carbon dioxide emitted by the production processes including drying and the transportation of biomass; details for selected scenarios are available in the report titled “Life Cycle Impacts of Biomass Electricity&quot;2 published in July 2014.</p><p>The UK is introducing new sustainability standards for biomass. From April 2015, biomass heat and power generators must achieve a minimum of 68% greenhouse gas saving compared to coal, which includes emissions from processing and transportation. In addition, power stations over 50MWth must monitor and report against maximum monthly average emission limits for particulates (including ash) they emit to air.</p><p><em><strong>[1]</strong></em><em> <a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/332948/beac_1.xlsm" target="_blank">https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/332948/beac_1.xlsm</a></em></p><p> </p><p><em>2</em><em> <a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/349024/BEAC_Report_290814.pdf" target="_blank">https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/349024/BEAC_Report_290814.pdf</a></em></p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p> answering member constituency Hastings and Rye answering member printed Amber Rudd question first answered 13/10/2014 12:44:36 answering member 3983 label Biography information for Amber Rudd
tabling member	1545 label Biography information for David T C Davies

76756

registered interest
date	09/07/2014
answering body	Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
answering dept id	13
answering dept short name	Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
answering dept sort name	Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
hansard heading	Biofuels
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what recent assessment he has made of the future prospects for farmlands and the pressures posed by a growing population and increased use of energy crops.
tabling member constituency	Westmorland and Lonsdale
tabling member printed	Tim Farron
uin	204831
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 15/07/2014 answer text <p> </p><p>Crops can be a useful source of energy but we need to balance the need for new forms of energy with the need to grow crops for food, and we are working with other government departments to make sure we get this balance right. The Government's bioenergy strategy makes clear that food production must remain the primary goal of agriculture and bioenergy must not undermine food security in the UK or internationally.</p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p>Defra is commissioning a collaborative project with the Energy Technology Institute to examine data from 32 existing bioenergy production businesses in England and Wales on food production and environmental sustainability. The project will deliver a set of indicators to help identify the types of bioenergy that can complement food production and those that present risk. Where there is risk to food production the project will consider mitigation measures and issues will be drawn out through case studies.</p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p>In 2011 Defra and the Department for International Development co-sponsored the Government Office for Science's Foresight report which explores the increasing pressures on the global food system between now and 2050 and asks how a future global population of nine billion people can all be fed healthily and sustainably. The Report highlights the decisions that policy makers need to take today, and in the years ahead, to ensure that a global population can be fed sustainably and equitably. Defra has embedded the importance of food security across the Department's policies, recognising the many areas of policy that impact on food security outcomes, and we continue to invest significantly in research in this area.</p><p> </p> answering member constituency Camborne and Redruth answering member printed George Eustice question first answered 15/07/2014 10:35:06 answering member 3934 label Biography information for George Eustice
tabling member	1591 label Biography information for Tim Farron