31064 & 31039 - Buildings: Timber – 10 January 2011

Susan Elan Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government (1) what estimate he has made of the average timber content of new buildings in each of the last five years; [31064]

(2) whether his Department has made an assessment of the likely effects on the environment of the implementation of a statutory minimum level of use of timber in new building construction; and if he will make a statement. [31039]

Andrew Stunell: The Department has made no estimate of the timber content of new buildings nor has it made any assessment of the effects of implementing a statutory minimum.

Building regulations set requirements on the performance of completed buildings and do not prescribe how this performance should be achieved or what materials should be used. The Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs is exploring the promotion of the use of timber in construction and we will work closely with DEFRA and external partners on this.

34761, 34762, 34766 & 34767 - Renewable Energy: Wood – 20 January 2011

Mrs McGuire: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change what estimate he has made of the contribution of the wood panel industry to the production of renewable heat in each of the last five years. [34761]

Gregory Barker: In 2009, the wood panel industry is estimated to have produced 1,639 GWh of renewable heat, from 395,469 tonnes of wood. Data are not available for years preceding this. Industry as a whole produced approximately 4,501 GWh of renewable heat in 2009.

Mrs McGuire: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change whether his Department has made an assessment of the life-cycle carbon balance of (a) processing wood and (b) electricity generation from wood; and if he will make a statement. [34762]

Charles Hendry: The Department has not made an assessment of the life cycle carbon balance of processing wood. However, I can confirm that the process itself is highly energy intensive; the wood panel industry is one of the most energy intensive industries in the UK

http://www.hm-treasury.gov.uk/consult_carbon_price_support.htm

According to the results of the 4(th) target period assessment of the climate change agreements, the sector reported that 2,550,761,208 kWh of energy with 458,355 tonnes of CO2 was used to produce 3,257,582m3 of wood panel. Their performance during this period was therefore 783 kWhp and 0.14 tonnes CO2 per m3 of wood panel produced.

http://www.decc.gov.uk/assets/decc/What%20we%20do/Global%20climate%20change%20and%20energy/Tackling %20Climate%20Change/ccas/175-cca-4th-target.pdf

Estimates of the life-cycle carbon balance of electricity generation from wood are dependent on a number of factors; the size and efficiency of the energy generating plant, the forestry planting, rotation and harvesting cycle, and the method of collecting, transporting and processing the wood. Typical life cycle carbon balances have been estimated by the Environment Agency.

http://www.environment-agency.gov.uk/static/documents/Biomass__carbon_sink_or_carbon_sinner_summary_report.pdf

Their analysis shows that life-cycle emissions for electricity generated by clean waste wood or short rotation coppice chips can vary from 50-300 kg CO2/MWh.

Mrs McGuire: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change what (a) mechanism and (b) criteria his Department plans to apply to assess the sustainability of large-scale wood biomass energy plants of 50 megawatts and over; and if he will take into account the potential effects of such plants on (i) UK wood processing industries and (ii) UK wood markets. [34766]

Charles Hendry: We are introducing sustainability criteria for the use of solid biomass, including wood fuels, to generate electricity under the renewables obligation (RO) from April this year. These criteria include a minimum greenhouse gas emissions saving of 60% compared to fossil fuel and general restrictions on the use of materials from land important on carbon or biodiversity grounds. Following a transition phase, where solid biomass plants over 50 kilowatts will be required to report on their performance against the criteria, from April 2013, solid biomass electricity plants of 1 megawatt and above will be required to meet these criteria in order to receive support under the RO. The sustainability criteria will not apply to solid biomass that is waste or wholly derived from waste.

The same set of sustainability criteria will be applied to the use of UK and imported solid biomass, and to both new and existing plants.

These changes build on the existing requirement under the RO for biomass plants over 50 kilowatts to report to the best of the operator’s knowledge and belief on a range of matters relating to the biomass used. These include the type and form of the biomass, its country of origin and whether the biomass is an energy crop or waste. This will provide valuable information on the biomass being used for large-scale electricity generation in the UK and the potential effects on the UK wood industries.

Our analysis of future UK bio-electricity supply takes into account the demand of the wood processing and other user industries for biomass feedstocks.

Mrs McGuire: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change whether (a) the effect on existing wood industries and (b) the sustainability of wood as a feedstock is taken into account in deciding whether to grant planning permission for large-scale biomass energy projects of 50 megawatts and over. [34767]

Charles Hendry: In respect of the effect on existing wood industries, commercial interests are not a relevant planning matter. In respect of the sustainability of wood as a feedstock, Government policy is that mechanisms beyond the planning system in the form of the renewables obligation are better placed to ensure the sustainability of fuel used in large-scale biomass electricity generating stations.

34768 - Renewable Energy – 20 January 2011

Mrs McGuire: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change for what reasons the Renewables Obligation does not require minimum energy efficiency standards in respect of eligibility for biomass energy support; and if he will make a statement. [34768]

Charles Hendry: The renewables obligation promotes the efficient use of biomass for electricity in two ways. Firstly, renewables obligation certificates are only rewarded for actual electricity generated, the less efficient the generation the less ROCs they will receive.

Secondly, the UK Government are introducing sustainability criteria for the use of solid and gaseous biomass (other than waste or wholly derived from waste) to generate electricity under the renewables obligation (RO) from April this year. These sustainability criteria include a minimum greenhouse gas emissions saving of 60% compared to fossil fuel assessed across a lifecycle that includes consideration of the energy conversion efficiency of the generating plant.

Following a transition phase, where solid and gaseous biomass plants over 50 kilowatts will be required to report on their performance against the criteria, from April 2013 biomass electricity plants of 1 megawatt and over will be required to meet these criteria in order to receive support under the RO.

34765 - Wood: Landfill – 21 January 2011

Mrs McGuire: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs whether she has plans to bring forward proposals to introduce a ban on wood going to landfill. [34765]

Richard Benyon: The Government are not minded to introduce further landfill restrictions in England at present, but will consider how best to make further reductions in the amount of waste to going to landfill as part of the review of waste policies, due to conclude in spring 2011.

34769 - Combined Heat and Power – 24 January 2011

Mrs McGuire: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change what assessment he has made of the conversion efficiency of combined heat and power installations; and if he will make a statement. [34769]

Gregory Barker: The conversion efficiency of combined heat and power installations is undertaken within the UK’s CHP quality assurance programme (CHPQA), the means by which the Government assess the environmental performance of CHP plants to ensure they deliver primary energy savings of at least 10%.

The conversion factors for the most recent gas-fired CHP plants certified under CHPQA demonstrate electrical efficiencies in the order of 33-39% and heat efficiencies in the order of 40-45%, depending on the size and type of the plant.