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

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, whether he has had discussions on using farm effluage and sewage for anaerobic digestion instead of importing wood chippings as biomass.

There are anaerobic digestion plants across the UK that generate electricity through the combustion of biogas produced through the breakdown of sewage or agricultural waste.

Biomass generators, in contrast, generate electricity through the combustion of solid fuel. As biomass is a different type of technology, it uses different types of feedstock. In general, sewage cannot substitute for solid biomass fuel.