Simon Wright
Main Page: Simon Wright (Liberal Democrat - Norwich South)
Charles Hendry
Let me give the hon. Gentleman an absolute assurance that all those issues will be completely taken into account. The fluid used is 99% water and there are already very strict controls on how it is used and on what happens after it has been through the process. There are very strong regulations, too, on how the fracking activity is separated from the water table and they are often several thousand feet apart. All those issues will be considered with the greatest care before we go forward. We believe that this technology has real potential, but it must be used in the safest possible way.
Simon Wright (Norwich South) (LD)
15. What steps he is taking to support combined heat and power biomass gasification plants.
The Minister of State, Department of Energy and Climate Change (Gregory Barker)
We see a big role in the future for combined heat and power gasification plants. The coalition has introduced the renewable heat incentive to support exactly that type of technology and will shortly publish details of future subsidies for renewable electricity under the renewables obligation. Furthermore, DECC’s UK renewable energy road map clearly sets out the actions we are already taking to remove non-financial barriers to deployment.
Simon Wright
The university of East Anglia campus in my constituency is able to receive considerable heat and power from its unique biomass gasification plant, which is the first of its kind in the UK. When sustainable syngas cannot be produced due to the maintenance cleaning cycle, the boiler switches to natural gas. However, dual fuel plants are ineligible to receive renewable heat incentive payments. Will the Minister consider whether the RHI guidance could be made more flexible further to encourage investment in innovative low-carbon technologies?
Gregory Barker
My hon. Friend raises a good point and we are keen to be as flexible, pragmatic and ambitious as possible. I can confirm that the Government will explore the inclusion of dual fuel biogas and fossil fuel installations within the RHI and I thank him for his idea.