§ Sue DoughtyTo ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry if she will undertake further consultation with the wood panel industry on the effects of the renewable obligation subsidy on the supply of wood residues. [127173]
§ Mr. TimmsI will be meeting with a number of MPs and representatives of the Wood Panel Industries Federation on 21 October 2003 to discuss this issue.
On 29 August I launched a statutory consultation paper on the Technical Review of the Renewables Obligation. This consultation outlines a number of changes we propose to make with effect from April 2004 and seeks the views of all statutory consultees and others. One of the key proposals is a set of modifications to the rules on the co-firing of biomass with fossil fuels with a view to enhancing the prospects for the development of a market in energy crops.
My officials continue to facilitate 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 to 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. My officials are obtaining 386W further information on the availability of forestry material used by power generators and wood panel manufacturers.