§ Baroness Byfordasked Her Majesty's Government:
Further to the Written Answer by the Lord Sainsbury of Turville on 2 June (WA 118), which stated that 1,768 hectares of energy crops have so far been planted, what action they intend to take to meet their target that 10 per cent of electricity will be generated from renewable sources by 2010. [HL3379]
§ The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, Department of Trade and Industry (Lord Sainsbury of Turville)Last year the Government introduced the renewables obligation, setting the framework for the achievement of our 10 per cent renewable energy target for 2010. The incentive to the UK renewable energy industry provided by the obligation and the exemption of renewable energy from the climate change levy is estimated to rise to £1 billion per year by 2010. The Government are backing this by a £348 million programme of direct support for a diversity of renewable energy projects. This includes £66 million for the bioenergy capital grants scheme (BCGS), joint-funded by DTI and the New Opportunities Fund, to support the early deployment of biomass-fired152WA technology. The BCGS, launched in February 2002, has proven very popular and has become oversubscribed, with funds now fully allocated. In total, 21 projects across the UK will be supported by the scheme.
In addition, Defra, as part of its England rural development programme, has made available £29 million for the establishment of energy crops including short rotation coppice (SRC) and miscanthus under the energy crops scheme. A further £3.5 million is to be made available for the establishment of infrastructure to facilitate the harvest and supply of energy crops to the power generator.
§ Baroness Byfordasked Her Majesty's Government:
On what basis their policy of burning biomass, which includes wood residues, can be reconciled with the needs of the wood panel industry, which is dependent on wood residues as a basic raw material. [HL3380]
§ Lord Sainsbury of TurvilleThe renewables obligation is the main instrument put in place by the Government to promote the development of renewable forms of energy in the UK. The obligation is intended to provide an impetus for new generating capacity that will be required to meet our current targets for renewable energy set in the energy White Paper and as a basis for further reductions in carbon dioxide emissions under Kyoto.
My officials are facilitating work between representatives of the UK wood industry and co-firing power stations to explore the opportunities offered by co-firing under the obligation for UK forestry, and, in particular, the potential for using by-products from existing wood industries. It is hoped that this initiative, if successful, will have the dual benefit of reducing imports and making more biomass available for a larger market in the UK, thereby helping to stabilise prices. We understand from the forestry industry that it can meet demand from power generators from existing surplus forestry material.