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

To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the financial value to the biomass industry of the zero carbon exemption for biomass within the UK's emissions trading scheme (ETS).

The current treatment in the UK ETS of carbon emissions from biomass provides continuity for participants.

The UK only supports biomass which complies with strict sustainability criteria, and electricity generators receive subsidies only for compliant biomass.

The sustainability criteria, amongst other things, take into account the greenhouse gas emissions from collecting, transporting and turning biomass into a viable energy source (for example wood pellets), whether that is in the UK or elsewhere, to ensure that biomass delivers a carbon saving compared to fossil fuels.