Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:

To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what steps his Department is taking to reduce (a) energy consumption and (b) energy production from biomass fuel after the UK leaves the EU; and what steps his Department is taking to encourage other forms of renewable energy through subsidies.

For business energy consumption we outlined in the Government’s Clean Growth Strategy, published in 2017, our goal to enable businesses and industry to improve energy efficiency by at least 20 per cent by 2030. This will contribute to overall economic growth by reducing the amount of energy required per unit of output.

Sustainable, low carbon bioenergy has helped the UK move to a low-carbon energy mix, increase our energy security and keep costs down for consumers. We see the use of biomass as a transitional technology and have announced that support for all coal to biomass conversions will end in 2027.

The Contracts for Difference scheme is our main mechanism for supporting new renewable energy generation projects. The Clean Growth Strategy announced up to £557m of annual support for future Contracts for Difference auctions, providing developers with the confidence they need to invest in bringing forward new projects.