Cut Carbon Not Forests

Dear constituent,

Thank you for contacting me recently about subsidies for electricity generated from biomass.

I appreciate the concerns that you raise. It is important that all energy forms we use in our move towards a low-carbon economy are sustainable. I believe that biomass has now largely fulfilled its purpose of replacing coal-fired power stations and, as electricity generation has become less carbon intensive, the continued supply of woodchip has led to a reassessment of burning wood for electricity. It is therefore right and welcome that new coal to biomass conversions will no longer be eligible for subsidies in future Contracts for Difference allocation rounds.

On subsidies for biomass under the Renewable Obligation scheme, the Government has said that since generating stations under the scheme receive support for up to 20 or 25 years, depending on when they were accredited, and have a statutory right to their existing support, it would be inappropriate to redirect that support to other technologies. Nevertheless, I am aware that the Government is looking at how to improve how the UK deploys biomass and intends to publish a biomass strategy this year. I know that as part of this process, in April 2021 it published a call for evidence on biomass and reaching net zero greenhouse gas emissions, followed by a policy statement in November. I will continue to monitor developments on this issue and I hope the Government will make a proper assessment of the link between biomass electricity subsidies and deforestation in this process.

More widely, I agree wholeheartedly with your call for greater support for renewable energy such as wind and solar power. It is vital that we lock in a genuine green recovery from the coronavirus pandemic and that is why I support calls for an additional £28 billion of capital investment in our country’s green transition for every year of this decade.

Thank you once again for contacting me.

Yours sincerely,

Peter Dowd MP