Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what assessment her Department has made of the potential benefits of used cooking oil in generating carbon-neutral electricity.

Defra has not made any specific assessment of the potential benefits of used cooking oil in generating carbon-neutral electricity.

There are restrictions on the disposal of used cooking oil and energy recovery for the production of electricity is one of the available options for managing such waste. As with other biodegradable materials, the energy recovered from used cooking oil is classed as ‘renewable energy’ and counts towards renewable energy targets aimed at decarbonising energy generation.