Asked by: John McDonnell (Labour - Hayes and Harlington)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what assessment he has made of the implications for his policies of reports that Drax has paid more than $3 million in fines related to pollution in the US south, and if he will review Government support for Drax.
Answered by Graham Stuart - Minister of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
US air quality regulatory bodies have established robust processes for ensuring air quality requirements are adhered to. UK Government officials have discussed air quality with US counterparts and continue to liaise with them to ensure the government continues to have the most up-to-date information.
The forthcoming Biomass Strategy will review the amount of sustainable biomass available to the UK and how this resource could be best utilised across the economy to help achieve our net zero greenhouse gas emissions target by 2050 while also supporting the delivery of our wider environmental targets.
Asked by: John McDonnell (Labour - Hayes and Harlington)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, with reference to the Panorama report, aired on 3 October, on the environmental and financial cost of shipping wood pellets from North America to be burnt at Drax power station, whether his Department has made a recent assessment of those potential (a) financial and (b) environmental costs.
Answered by Graham Stuart - Minister of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
The UK only supports sustainable biomass use which can deliver genuine greenhouse gas emissions savings compared to fossil materials. The regulator Ofgem is responsible for auditing the sustainability of biomass used by electricity generators which receive support under the Renewables Obligation. Ofgem routinely checks whether the sustainability criteria have been met by generators.
Sustainability information is publicly available on Ofgem’s website, with the latest dataset accessible here: https://www.ofgem.gov.uk/publications/biomass-sustainability-dataset-2020-21. The forthcoming Biomass Strategy will set out recommendations for further enhancing the UK’s stringent biomass sustainability criteria.
Asked by: John McDonnell (Labour - Hayes and Harlington)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, with reference to the announcement made on 30 June 2021 that the Government would remove unabated coal from the UK’s energy mix by 2024, whether that remains the Government's policy; and if he will make a statement.
Answered by Greg Hands - Minister of State (Department for Business and Trade)
The Government remains committed to phasing out unabated coal generation by October 2024. The UK has already made excellent progress in reducing coal usage, with coal’s share of our electricity supply falling from 40% in 2012 to less than 2% in 2020.
Asked by: John McDonnell (Labour - Hayes and Harlington)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what meetings he or his Ministers have held with the Financial Reporting Council since the fines issued in June 2022 to PWC for their audits of Kier and of Galliford.
Answered by Jane Hunt
Ministers have not met with the Financial Reporting Council in response to fines issued in June 2022 to PWC for their audits of Kier and of Galliford.