Biofuels

(asked on 10th March 2020) - View Source

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

To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what recent discussions he has had with the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs on the potential for on-farm generation of biogas.


Answered by
Kwasi Kwarteng Portrait
Kwasi Kwarteng
This question was answered on 13th March 2020

Biogas is produced through anaerobic digestion (AD) using biomass feedstocks such as food and on-farm waste (e.g. manure and slurries). Biogas can be used to generate electricity?or?heat (or both?outputs?in a CHP?system).?Alternatively, it can be upgraded into biomethane to directly replace natural gas in the gas grid. The Government supports AD as an effective treatment for organic waste that produces renewable fuel, heat or energy and a nutrient rich by-product, digestate, which can be used as a fertiliser.

Currently, biogas and biomethane produced by AD are supported by the non-domestic Renewable Heat Incentive scheme (RHI). The RHI has funding confirmed for new deployment of renewable heat technologies until 31 March 2021. The Budget on 11 March confirmed a new allocation of flexible tariff guarantees on the non-domestic RHI and announced a new support scheme for biomethane production to increase the proportion of green gas in the grid, funded by a Green Gas Levy.

The Department engages regularly with the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, at both ministerial and official level, on a range of issues including biogas.

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