§ Mr. HayesTo ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what quantity of biofuel the United Kingdom imported from(a) Germany and (b) France in the last year for which figures are available. [134371]
§ Mr. Bradshaw[holding answer 27 October 2003]: Currently, around 2 million litres of biodiesel are sold each month in the UK. Around half of this is imported but information is not collected on the country of origin.
§ Mr. HayesTo ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what assessment she has made of the effect of the duty reduction to 20 pence a litre for biofuels. [134372]
§ Mr. Bradshaw[holding answer 27 October 2003]: The cut in the duty on biodiesel has already brought forward production of biodiesel from recycled vegetable oil. This offers waste reduction benefits as well as savings in carbon dioxide emissions. Currently, around 2 million litres of biodiesel are sold each month from over 130 165W filling stations in the UK. Companies are actively considering the production of biodiesel from UK-grown oilseed rape.
§ Mr. John HayesTo ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what the Government's estimate is of(a) the percentage of the United Kingdom's farmland suitable for growing biofuel crops and (b) the quantity of biofuel that could be produced from this land. [134373]
§ Mr. Bradshaw[holding answer 27 October 2003]: As biofuels can be produced from mainstream arable crops, a large proportion of the UK's 4.2 million hectares of arable land (2001–02 figures) is suitable for growing biofuel feedstocks. The key factor in determining the amount of land used is the need for the market return to the farmer to be sufficient to motivate diversion from production for established food and animal feed markets. Achieving the Biofuels Directive's reference target of 5.75 per cent. use of biofuels by 2010 would require the production of biofuels from waste vegetable oil, plus feedstocks from around 1 million hectares of agricultural land.