§ Baroness Byfordasked Her Majesty's Government:
Further to the Written Answer by the Minister of State for Energy on 31 March (Official Report, Commons, col. 506W), why the amount of biodegradable solid waste used to generate heat fell from 50.6 thousand tonnes of oil equivalent in 1996 to 14.3 thousand tonnes in 1997; why it took a further four years to increase to 46.5 thousand tonnes; what was the total in 2002; how this trend is predicted to continue; what effect any trend is likely to have on requirements for other forms of renewable energy; and whether any trend is anticipated to be long lasting. [HL346]
§ The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of Slate, Department of Trade and Industry (Lord Sainsbury of Turville)I understand that the figures referred to in the question relate to municipal solid waste (which includes both biodegradable and non-biodegradable waste). After 1 December 1996 most of the existing sites Were closed because it was uneconomic to upgrade them to meet new regulations on incinerator emissions based on EU Directives. Since 1994, 11 facilities have been built or upgraded to meet the requirements of the directives, and there are at present 16 municipal solid waste incineration plant with a capacity of around 2.3 million tonnes per year—in capacity terms, this is similar to the level of the early 1990s. There are five plants under construction, due to be commissioned in 2005, with a total design capacity of around 0.5 million tonnes per year. The Government do not publish forecasts of the contributions made by particular fuel sources to heat generation.