Asked by
To ask Her Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of
(1) the sustainability, and (2) the impact on biodiversity, of
the wood pellets used by Drax for electricity generation in the
United Kingdom.
The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, Department for
Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy () (Con)
My Lords, in 2020 plant-based biomass power generation made up
approximately 9% of the total renewable electricity generation in
the UK; this includes generation from wood pellets. The biomass
that powers such generation meets strict sustainability criteria
that the Government set out in legislation. The sustainability
criteria include requirements for sustainable sourcing, covering
a range of social, economic and environmental issues, including
protecting biodiversity. The UK supports only biomass that
complies with these strict sustainability criteria.
(CB)
I thank the Minister for his Answer, but I beg to differ. Some of
the forests being logged for biomass are among the most
ecologically rich and diverse in the world. The North American
coastal plain, where most UK biomass imports—particularly
Drax—come from, is a global biodiversity hot spot. Clear-cutting
for biomass is occurring even in reserves that are designated
protected forests. We are paying Drax £832 million a year in
subsidies, and at the moment it is the fifth most polluting power
station in Europe. I again ask the Minister my Question on the
Order Paper. The impact on biodiversity, rather than non-existent
as he said, is in fact very severe. When will the Government step
up to the plate and do something about this?
(Con)
I am afraid that I and the noble Baroness will have to disagree
on this. Biodiversity is one of the criteria we take into
account. We have sent officials out to southern USA, where most
of this biomass comes from. This is residue, by-product from the
forestry process, so it is not unsustainable. I think the noble
Baroness is wrong.
(Con)
Would it not be more sustainable if my noble friend could source
all the wood from fast-growing wood coppice or miscanthus from
farmers in North Yorkshire and across Yorkshire? It is closer to
Drax and would reduce the carbon footprint, as well as helping
local farmers with their growing capacity.
(Con)
Indeed it would, and we already source some small quantities from
the UK, but the noble Baroness needs to look at the size of the
forests in southern USA, which are, I think I am right in saying,
about the size of the landmass of western Europe. Great and
sustainable though North Yorkshire wood is, I suspect we would
struggle to meet the quantity required.
(Lab)
Drax claims that burning wood pellets is carbon-neutral because
trees absorb as much carbon dioxide when they grow as they emit
when they are burned. Is the Minister able to justify that claim
from a thorough analysis that includes all supply-chain emissions
and with effective CCUS Would that also
have to include hydrogen production?
(Con)
No. In a sustainably managed forest, which all our biomass comes
from, there will be stands of trees of different ages, which will
be harvested in gradual sequence and then replaced as they reach
maturity. The market price for biomass is far lower than it is
for timber and board manufacture, which are far more valuable.
These are by-products from the forestry process.
(LD)
My Lords, part of the problem of how we got here is that the
Government took at face value the assurances from biomass energy
producers that their products were sustainable. Will the
Government now commit to implementing a due diligence exercise in
future, so that producers have to prove where they have sourced
their product from?
(Con)
They already say where their product has come from; this evidence
is independently audited. Generators must report against the
criteria on a monthly basis and Ofgem performs checks to ensure
that the criteria are met and deductions in certificate issuance
or payments are applied proportionately for the energy produced.
We are already doing the checks that the noble Baroness
suggests.
(Con)
My Lords, I declare my conservation interest as in the register.
Will my noble friend the Minister be able to put in the public
domain these independent assessments of biodiversity loss—or no
loss, as he has it? As far as I am concerned, and from what I
hear, this is having a severe impact on biodiversity and, in
primary forest that has been cut down, on species such as the
cerulean warbler, the prothonotary warbler and many others. Is he
aware that some of the most deprived communities in the areas of
these wood-processing plants are suffering great health problems?
Is it right that the Government are subsidising this?
(Con)
Where the evidence is published, I will certainly make sure that
the noble Lord receives a copy of it, but I think he is wrong on
this. As I said, these are not primary trees but trees that are
being harvested anyway; these are branches and other offcuts from
the forestry process. It is sustainably managed and the criteria
are checked, including for biodiversity.
(GP)
Do the Government understand that Drax has been taken to court
twice this year for air pollution offences and reported to the
OECD for misleading and, frankly, untrue statements about its
environmental impacts? Does the Minister think the Government are
being a bit naive in not doing due diligence with somebody who
actually knows what they are talking about from the green point
of view?
(Con)
I would challenge the noble Baroness’s statement that some of the
green groups know what they are talking about, but we make sure
that the process is independently audited and all of the biomass
is—I repeat—sustainably produced.
(Con)
My Lords, in relation to transforming the UK’s most
carbon-intensive industrial cluster into the world’s first
carbon-neutral industrial cluster by 2040, can the Minister tell
us not only about safeguarding existing jobs but how many new
green skilled jobs this is predicted to bring to my area of
Yorkshire and the Humber?
(Con)
I am afraid the noble Baroness will have to write to me with
details of which scheme she is referring to.
(Lab)
My Lords, does the Minister think there might be merit in closing
Drax and building a new nuclear power station?
(Con)
There will certainly be merit in producing new nuclear power
stations. I share the noble Lord’s enthusiasm for nuclear power.
It was a shame that the Labour Government of which he was a part
stopped building nuclear power stations; that was a retrograde
step. We are committed to future nuclear, but we can do that
alongside sustainable biofuels.
of Hardington Mandeville
(LD)
My Lords, the burning of woody biomass produces more carbon
emissions per unit of final energy than burning coal. The Drax
power station is not decarbonising the energy sector—quite the
opposite—and is the UK’s largest single source of carbon
emissions. The wood pellets burned by Drax come from whole trees
clear-cut logged in natural forests worldwide, not from trees
grown for the purpose or from waste by-products as the Minister
said. Is it time the Government thought again about the £2.1
million daily subsidy that Drax receives?
(Con)
At the risk of repeating myself, I think that the noble Baroness
is wrong on the points that she makes. The process is
independently audited and checked, and we have sent officials out
to southern USA to ascertain that the claims are correct, and all
the material burned in Drax is sustainably produced.
(Con)
Since the noble Lord, Lord West, has led us slightly wider on the
Question, can I ask why there is not more emphasis on tidal
power?
(Con)
The noble Lord gives me a great cue to talk about the contracts
for difference scheme that we launched just this morning, which
for the first time allows tidal power to bid. I completely agree
with the noble Lord, and we are doing it.
(CB)
The Minister mentioned the contracts for difference, which
include onshore wind. As he knows from the Bill that we discussed
two Fridays ago, there are still planning issues with onshore
wind development, particularly with replacement of current
onshore wind. Will the Government look a little more
sympathetically at supporting my Bill?
(Con)
We had an extensive and informative discussion with the noble
Baroness on her Bill, and onshore wind, as I reminded her at the
time, is included in the contracts for difference round that we
launched this morning.
