Biomass Power Generation

Debate between Ian Swales and John Hayes

Wednesday 20th March 2013 Westminster Hall

[Ian Swales (Redcar) (LD)]

I congratulate the hon. Member for Selby and Ainsty (Nigel Adams) on not only securing the debate, but his comprehensive review of the industry, and its opportunities and issues. My speech will be short because I was aware that, given his expertise, he would cover many of the points that I might make.

There is no doubt that biomass should be an important part of our energy mix. It is the fourth largest energy resource in the world after coal, oil and gas, and of course none of those is renewable, so it is the largest source of renewable energy in the world. However, this is yet another area in which the UK is playing catch-up. The Renewable Energy Association estimates that the industry employs about 2,000 people in the UK, compared with 60,000 in France and 68,000 in Germany. The technology is well established and many countries are exploiting it fully.

My constituency is in the Tees valley and, rather like the hon. Gentleman’s, it is becoming something of a Disneyland for green technology. Specifically on biomass, the advanced manufacturing technology centre, the Centre for Process Innovation and the Department of Energy and Climate Change are part-sponsoring anaerobic digestion research there, and Northumbrian Water has built a £60 million anaerobic digestion plant in the constituency. We have the largest bioethanol plant in Europe working on wheat. At the large Wilton chemicals site, Sembcorp has converted its power station to burn mostly timber. Across the river, Air Products is building a gasification of waste plant and is already planning its next one to make biofuels and even chemicals.

This morning, I was at the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills meeting Korean investors, including Jang Do-soo, the president of Korea South-East Power, which wants to invest in a 300 MW biomass power plant at Teesport. That will involve spending £500 million and follows the signing of a memorandum of understanding in Seoul some months ago, which was attended by a Foreign Office Minister and the UK ambassador. So far, so good, but we keep hearing inconsistent messages from DECC.

I could not attend the meeting of the all-party group on biomass on 26 February, but I was very impressed by the comprehensive notes arising from it—that is another compliment to the hon. Member for Selby and Ainsty, who chairs the group. At the meeting, the Minister repeated his belief that a new-build dedicated biomass plant is more likely to use domestic rather than imported biomass, yet at the same meeting, he referred to 700 million acres of forest in the US alone. The meeting was attended by the Virginia Secretary of Agriculture and Forestry, who is keen for exports. I have been lobbied by the US industry, which is desperately looking for greater use of its commercial timber plantations, as we heard earlier. Surely there is a place for efficient port-based biomass investment to support our base load of electricity in this country. I accept that that might be limited, but surely we should have one or two such facilities.

Some commentators do not seem to understand that wood is a crop just like any other. Sustainable forestry is no different from any other sort of farming; it simply has longer time scales. The industry needs sustainable supplies, because if it puts a substantial amount of capital on the ground, it cannot go round the world looking for spot purchases. A sustainable operation needs a source of sustainable feedstock because the investment is very long term.

I am disappointed about today’s announcement on carbon capture and storage. Teesside came third on a list of two in the CCS competition, but I still believe that it will eventually get a network.

[The Minister of State, Department of Energy and Climate Change (Mr John Hayes)]

I appreciate my hon. Friend’s disappointment, but I assure him that while we have taken two projects forward, we remain extremely committed to carbon capture and storage generally. I had a meeting this morning specifically to look at how we can work with the other projects involved. There must be a feeling among all those involved in CCS that everyone is a winner.

[Ian Swales]

I thank the Minister for his intervention, which is exactly the sort of response that the Teesside consortium is looking for, so I am sure that his comments will be noted. I thought that the weight of process industry on Teesside was unlikely to be given due regard in the competition, because that was not one of the criteria, but as we have 18 of the largest 30 carbon emitters in the country, excluding energy, a Teesside project should go ahead at some point. I am pleased by the Minister’s response and I believe that there will be another meeting on the matter with his Department on Friday.

CCS leads me to talk about something that I do not think the hon. Member for Selby and Ainsty mentioned. Biomass with carbon capture and storage is one of the very few technologies that can sequester carbon dioxide from the atmosphere for carbon-negative power. If we think about the problems we have in the world, how big a prize is that? We should seriously consider that combination of biomass with CCS, and the resulting sequestration.

I know that the Minister wants investment in infrastructure, which is a key aspect of current Government policy. The Teesport biomass plant is shovel-ready—I met the investors again this morning. I hope that it will receive his full support, but if his Department wants to cap such investments, will it please provide absolute clarity to investors so that time is not wasted, and we can all move on and think of something else to do? I repeat that the investors in such projects are receiving mixed messages.

Energy Bill

Debate between Ian Swales and John Hayes

Wednesday 19th December 2012 Commons Chamber

[Ian Swales]

As far as I am aware, the £1 billion that was promised for CCS is still on the table. I am not sure where that 80% figure comes from, although I would be disappointed if what the hon. Lady said was true. [Interruption.] I hope the Minister will respond to that later.

[The Minister of State, Department of Energy and Climate Change (Mr John Hayes)]

Let me be quite clear: the £1 billion competition is entirely as my hon. Friend described it—it is in place and on target.

[Ian Swales]

I thank the Minister for that clarification; that was my understanding too.

I raise this issue because of the importance of the proposed Teesside carbon capture and storage network to my constituency, the local economy and, I truly believe, to the national economy. I was delighted by the recent announcement that placed the project in the UK shortlist of two for the European competition and the shortlist of four for the UK competition. I am obviously disappointed that it seems that the UK projects will not be supported in round 1 of the European competition. It was notable that the UK announcements—and, indeed, the European ones—simply listed the technology and electrical output of each project, whereas the Teesside project included the potential to bring back International Power’s mothballed 1.8 GW power station at Wilton. However, power is not the main driver of the project. Teesside has 18 of the top 30 carbon emitters in the country, excluding power stations.