§ Mr. David PorterTo ask the Secretary of State for Energy what investigations his Department has carried out into the reliability of industrial crop growing as a permanent renewable energy source; and if he will make a statement.
§ Mr. Michael SpicerMy Department, within its biofuels research and development programme, is continuing to evaluate the prospects for energy forestry in terms of its practicality and economics. In addition, earlier studies were carried out into the prospects of growing catch crops and also the harvesting of natural vegetation but these proved to be unattractive in economic terms.
The forestry programme and been reviewed in the publication ETSU R32, "The Potential for Wood as a Fuel in the UK", and the catch crop work in ETSU R35, The potential for catch crops and natural vegetation as fuel in the UK. Arrangements have been made to place both documents in the House of Commons Library.