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 Answer of 20 October 2015 to Question 11541, whether the Department for Energy and Climate Change completed its assessment of the greenhouse gas emissions related to underground coal gasification.

The Department recognises a need to understand the risks and benefits associated with underground coal gasification better. It commissioned a report from the consultancy WS Atkins Plc into the greenhouse gas implications of underground coal gasification. This report will be received in due course.