Energy Bill

Lord Jenkin of Roding Excerpts

Monday 28th October 2013 Lords Chamber

Moved by

[Lord Jenkin of Roding]

25: Clause 15, page 11, line 20, at end insert—
“(d) conferring on the Secretary of State further powers to require operators of generating stations which use woody biomass fuel to commit to a binding agreement to source no more than a specified amount of woody biomass fuel that is grown in the UK”

[Lord Jenkin of Roding]

I beg to move the amendment standing in my name and that of my noble friend Lord Roper. My noble friend the Minister will recognise that this is the same amendment which my noble friend Lord Roper moved in my absence in Committee. We have tabled it again to see whether the Minister has had any further thoughts about how she can best protect those wood manufacturers who depend on the same source of wood as that used for biomass by generators. That is what they are frightened of. Indeed, they go so far as to say that if there is no certainty that they will be able to source their raw material in this country, or from the same sources from which they have had it in the past, we will lose the industry. It will no longer invest here because it cannot be sure of getting its raw material. That was the case which my noble friend made in Committee.

I have reread the reply which the Minister gave on that occasion. It is not too strong to say that she dismissed the fear as unreasonable and the measure as one which would cause unnecessary bureaucracy. However, the Scottish authorities have decided that there should be a requirement on those intending to burn biomass as a fuel to make a statement of their sources, quantities and sustainability. I know that there is a voluntary scheme. Indeed, my noble friend made that point in Grand Committee. However, the fact of the matter is that this does not give the wood panel and other wood-using industries the confidence that they need. In those circumstances, have the Government had further thoughts as to whether there might be an advantage in preserving an important industry in this country in terms of the number of people it employs and the fact that it is a UK-based manufacturing industry? Will they give it the confidence to enable it to continue in business? I look forward to hearing my noble friend’s reply. Has there been any change in the Government’s attitude since we debated this in July? I beg to move.

[Lord Roper]

My Lords, as my noble friend Lord Jenkin has said, I moved a similar amendment in Grand Committee. As he has also said, we felt that the Minister’s reply on that occasion was not as helpful as it could have been. Although the wood panel industry is not large, it has a significant annual turnover and employs both directly and indirectly a significant number of people. If it is possible for appropriate guidelines to be issued in Scotland, it is not totally clear to me why it is not possible to have them here. Obviously, it is a good thing that a voluntary disclosure agreement now exists, but I think that the industry would prefer there to be a requirement regarding disclosure rather than this voluntary agreement. Like my noble friend Lord Jenkin, I shall be interested to hear the Minister’s reply.

--- Later in debate ---

Given the measures we have taken and the data we are seeing on demand for UK wood for electricity, we see it as unduly burdensome to impose new limits on individual operators. The key point on which we need to focus is assessing the development of the entire industry, rather than setting limits for individual plants, which could cause unintended consequences and needlessly disrupt this useful technology. I hope my noble friends will be reassured by this and agree to withdraw their amendment.

[Lord Jenkin of Roding]

My Lords, I am very grateful to all the noble Lords who have taken part in this short debate. Clearly this is a subject of some interest around the House. I can cap the story of the noble Lord, Lord Cameron, because I saw some people who build very small generators entirely fired by what is left over in a forest after the useable timber is all taken away. They are apparently making quite a good living out of that. Individual factories and distilleries may be fired in that way so there must be an enormous amount of that sort of thing going on.

There is this bit in the middle where, as other noble Lords have said, there is a competition between the biomass burners and those who hope to have wood for their furniture making and panelling and so on. The noble Baroness has answered my question. There is no change from what she told the Committee in the summer. In these circumstances, there is not much point in pressing the case. I therefore beg leave to withdraw the amendment.

Amendment 25 withdrawn.

Amendment 26

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