Asked by: Geraint Davies (Independent - Swansea West)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what tender process his Department is using to select a provider to take over the running of the Government’s Biomass Suppliers List with effect from 1 July 2021.
Answered by Greg Hands - Minister of State (Department for Business and Trade)
The Biomass Suppliers List was publicly tendered from January to February 2021. The Government received 13 expressions of interest and two tenders. Following evaluation, the Government appointed Woodsure to administer the List for two years.
Asked by: Geraint Davies (Independent - Swansea West)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, when he plans to publish the Government's Biomass Strategy 2022.
Answered by Greg Hands - Minister of State (Department for Business and Trade)
The Government intends to publish its Biomass Strategy in late 2022.
Asked by: Geraint Davies (Independent - Swansea West)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, whether he has undertaken a comparative assessment of the carbon emissions required to heat and cool a building (a) relying solely on natural ventilation and (b) recirculating air at a typical rate though a mechanical heating, ventilation and air conditioning system.
Answered by Greg Hands - Minister of State (Department for Business and Trade)
Most buildings in the UK rely solely on natural ventilation. Carbon emissions from heating and cooling is included in the UK greenhouse gas emissions national statistics~: https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/provisional-uk-greenhouse-gas-emissions-national-statistics-2021. The Retrofit for the Future programme https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/retrofit-for-the-future-a-guide-to-making-retrofit-work compared natural ventilation with the use of mechanical ventilation with heat recovery when retrofitting buildings, but no comparative estimates of the carbon emissions was undertaken.
Asked by: Geraint Davies (Independent - Swansea West)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what estimate he has made of the level of carbon emissions in tonnes from central or standalone (a) heating in winter and (b) cooling in summer from buildings for which he is responsible that rely solely on natural ventilation.
Answered by Greg Hands - Minister of State (Department for Business and Trade)
Most buildings in the UK rely solely on natural ventilation. Carbon emissions from heating and cooling is included in the UK greenhouse gas emissions national statistics: https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/provisional-uk-greenhouse-gas-emissions-national-statistics-2021. The Government recently published a study on demand for cooling in UK buildings which is available at https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/cooling-in-the-uk.
Asked by: Geraint Davies (Independent - Swansea West)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, pursuant to the Answer of 11 January 2022 to Question 98190 on Firewood, what assessment he has made of the reasons for the reduction in domestic wood consumption in 2018 of 67 per cent.
Answered by Greg Hands - Minister of State (Department for Business and Trade)
Domestic wood consumption was revised in July 2021 to incorporate the results of research undertaken by the Department for the Environment, Food, and Rural Affairs (Defra): link here.
The Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy compared the research findings with the existing methodology for the Digest of UK Energy Statistics and described methodological reasons that contributed to the reduction in estimated domestic wood consumption in an article published in March 2021: link here.
Asked by: Geraint Davies (Independent - Swansea West)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, when he plans to publish a biomass strategy 2022.
Answered by Greg Hands - Minister of State (Department for Business and Trade)
The Government intends to publish the Biomass Strategy later this year.
Asked by: Geraint Davies (Independent - Swansea West)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, how many responses were received to the tender process to select a new provider to take over the running of the Government’s Biomass Suppliers List with effect from 1 July 2021.
Answered by Greg Hands - Minister of State (Department for Business and Trade)
The Biomass Suppliers List was publicly tendered from January to February 2021. The Department received 13 expressions of interest and two tenders. Following evaluation, BEIS appointed Woodsure to administer the List for two years.
Asked by: Geraint Davies (Independent - Swansea West)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what assessment his Department has made of the availability of eco-label accreditation for producers of wood-burning stoves in the UK.
Answered by Greg Hands - Minister of State (Department for Business and Trade)
Producers and manufacturers of wood burning stoves in the UK must demonstrate compliance by following the conformity assessment procedures set out in the Ecodesign and Energy Labelling regulations, prior to placing a product on the market. The Office for Product Safety and Standards (OPSS) is the UK appointed market surveillance authority (MSA) responsible for ensuring manufacturers meet their obligations towards these regulations.
Asked by: Geraint Davies (Independent - Swansea West)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, pursuant to the Answer of 10 December 2021 to Question 88605, Carbon Emissions: Health, what policies his Department has implemented in response to the report by the Climate Change Committee’s UK Health Expert Advisory Group entitled, Sustainable Health Equity: Achieving a Net Zero UK.
Answered by Greg Hands - Minister of State (Department for Business and Trade)
The Government considered the Climate Change Committee’s advice, alongside a range of relevant evidence, when setting the sixth carbon budget and to inform policy development. The Government’s Net Zero Strategy, published in October last year, sets out the Government’s vision to transition to net zero by 2050, including to grasp the health benefits from changes such as better insulated homes, cleaner air and more walking and cycling.
Asked by: Geraint Davies (Independent - Swansea West)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what steps he has taken to ensure that payments made under the Government’s Renewable Heat Incentive scheme are provided to biomass boilers using wood fuel that meet certain (a) sustainability and (b) additional legal requirements.
Answered by Greg Hands - Minister of State (Department for Business and Trade)
The Renewable Heat Incentive scheme was introduced in 2011. In 2015, the Government introduced new legislation which required all biomass boilers on the scheme to adhere to certain land and sustainability criteria. The Government has also introduced a new fuel quality standard and annual maintenance checks for biomass boilers on the scheme, in line with its 2019 Clean Air Strategy. Both requirements came into force on 01 April 2022.
The scheme is administered by Ofgem who carry out frequent audits to ensure compliance.