Landfill Gas: Utilisation (Hansard, 25 November 1991)

§ Lord Cavendish of Furness
My Lords, very considerable progress is being made. Currently 37 schemes utilising landfill gas are in operation in this country and this number is expected to rise to around 70 within two or three years. Fifty-three projects, totalling 83.5 megawatts, have contracts under the non-fossil fuel obligation, which has given a major boost to the exploitation of this important energy resource.

Lord Campbell of Croy
My Lords, I am grateful to my noble friend for his reply. The Government deserve credit for supporting research in this field, but cannot more be done to publicise the advantages of this gas as an economical fuel, bearing in mind that if it is left untapped it becomes a nuisance and can be dangerous? Indeed, it has already caused some explosions.

§ Lord Cavendish of Furness
My Lords, I am grateful to my noble friend for his acknowledgement of the work we are doing. The Government do a great deal to publicise the opportunities for and give advice on the commercial exploitation of landfill gas. We produced a video aimed at raising general awareness. We place articles in journals, including the one which we produce and distribute widely ourselves. We organise a major international conference every two years. We publish reports and fact sheets on successful projects and distribute these at conferences and exhibitions and we publish a landfill gas news sheet twice a year. More generally, the opportunities for all the renewables to participate in the NFFO was widely publicised, including a mailshot of 13,000. The Government spend about 10 per cent. of their renewables budget on promotional activities. This proportion is expected to increase as the renewables get closer to commercialisation.

§ Lord Donoughue
My Lords, the harnessing of methane from landfill sites is important both in terms of controlling emissions and of creating energy saving opportunities. The Government have made some positive statements of late but can the noble Lord tell us about action? When will the environmental agency that will have overall control in this area begin to function? How much is being spent in the current year on research into bio-gases, of which methane is one; 1140 and what are the Government doing to encourage the privatised electricity utilities to give long-term contracts for the combined heat and power units which operate in this area? Without long-term contracts the economics of these projects do not add up.

§ Lord Cavendish of Furness
My Lords, I shall have to write to the noble Lord with regard to his question on the environmental agency. My understanding is that it is a combination of a number of existing agencies. I am not aware of the exact date when it will start to function. The noble Lord referred to landfill. I am not aware of any CHP enterprises under that heading. The noble Lord also referred to general expenditure. Government expenditure in this area is currently in excess of £4 million per annum and rising.

§ Lord Cochrane of Cults
My Lords, I understand that two regulatory bodies are involved with landfill gas. As regards sites producing less than 2 million therms a year the Office of Gas Supply is involved. Can my noble friend tell me the difference between the terms of licences granted by his department and those granted by the Office of Gas Supply in relation to the duration of permission to use landfill gas?

§ Lord Cavendish of Furness
My Lords, landfill gas sites do not as such require a licence from the Department of Energy to operate. As my noble friend said, in cases where sites export less than 2 million therms of gas a year, a Section 8 authorisation may be required. The length of time an authorisation is valid has recently been extended from three years to five years. However, it may be helpful for my noble friend to know that the whole operation of Section 8 continues to be under review.

§ Lord Dean of Beswick
My Lords, the noble Lord, Lord Campbell of Croy, referred in his supplementary question to some unfortunate incidents. Those incidents, which have involved methane explosions, have taken place mainly on housing developments. Is enough advice available when housing sites are being developed to prevent these unforeseen and sometimes tragic incidents?

§ Lord Cavendish of Furness
My Lords, we are aware of the dangers referred to by my noble friend Lord Campbell of Croy. I cannot guarantee that there will not be further accidents, but the safety angle is taken extremely seriously.