Asked by: Philip Davies (Conservative - Shipley)
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 made a comparative assessment of the heat produced by kiln dried wood and house coal on a domestic fire in his consultation on cleaner domestic burning of solid fuels and wood; and if he will make statement.
Answered by Thérèse Coffey
Information provided from Forest Research indicates that wood that has been ‘oven dried’ has a calorific value of 5.3 kWh per kg (this does not vary significantly between tree species). In comparison, house coal has a calorific value of around 8 kWh per kg.
The type of appliance used also affects the amount of heat that can be recovered from a fuel. An efficient, modern, environmentally accredited stove is far more efficient at recovering heat than an open fire.
Asked by: Philip Davies (Conservative - Shipley)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what discussions his Department has had with (a) Ministers and (b) officials in the Irish Government on (i) their experience of bringing forward policies on cleaner domestic burning of solid fuels and wood and (ii) the UK Government's consultation on similar proposals; and if he will make a statement.
Answered by Thérèse Coffey
Earlier this year, my Department set out our proposals to reduce the emissions of harmful particulate matter from the domestic burning of solid fuels, the largest source in the UK.
The Irish Government has enacted similar proposals to ours; namely the phasing out of house coal for use in domestic properties in favour of cleaner manufactured solid fuel, often known as “smokeless coal”. They have not introduced restrictions on wet wood, as we are proposing.
Officials from my Department have met officials from the Irish Government on a number of occasions to learn from their experiences in this area, including in person at a meeting in Dublin, via telephone meetings and at other international meetings at which both UK and Irish officials have been present.
I have spoken briefly to former Minister Naughten in the fringes of a European Council on the policy in Ireland. There have been no formal meetings on this issue.
The Irish Government’s policies to restrict smoky coal have resulted in a significant decrease in particulate matter in Dublin, and other cities throughout Ireland.
Asked by: Philip Davies (Conservative - Shipley)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what discussions his Department has had with (a) Ministers and (b) officials at the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport on the potential effect on heritage railway services and UK tourism of the proposals in the Government's consultation on cleaner domestic burning of solid fuels and wood; and if he will make a statement.
Answered by Thérèse Coffey
Earlier this year, the Department set out our proposals to reduce the emissions of harmful particulate matter from the domestic burning of solid fuels, the largest source in the UK. Our consultation received over 500 responses, and officials are currently analysing the responses. We will publish our response to this consultation by the end of the year.
Our proposals relate solely to the burning of household coal and wet wood in domestic properties. We are not proposing any restrictions regarding smokeless coal. We are not proposing any restrictions or regulations relating to the use of solid fuels (including coal) in heritage railways.
There have therefore been no Ministerial- or official-level meetings between the Department and the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport on this matter.
Asked by: Philip Davies (Conservative - Shipley)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, how many written responses he received to the consultation on cleaner domestic burning of solid fuels and wood; and if he will make a statement.
Answered by Thérèse Coffey
We have received approximately 500 responses to the consultation on cleaner domestic burning of solid fuels and wood.
Asked by: Philip Davies (Conservative - Shipley)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, when he plans to announce the results of the consultation on cleaner domestic burning of solid fuels and wood; and if he will make a statement.
Answered by Thérèse Coffey
I intend to announce the results of the consultation on cleaner domestic burning of solid fuels and wood in due course.
Asked by: Philip Davies (Conservative - Shipley)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, pursuant to the Answer of 24 October 2018 to Question 180679 on CPL Industries, what meetings (a) he, (b) his Ministers and (c) his officials have had with CPL Ltd in the calendar years (i) 2016 and (ii) 2017; and if he will make a statement.
Answered by Thérèse Coffey
Ministerial meetings with stakeholders are published quarterly on gov.uk here:
https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/ministers-hospitality-gifts-meetings-overseas-travel.
This will list any meetings held between Defra ministers and our stakeholders.
No officials met with CPL Ltd. in 2016. Officials met with CPL Ltd. in March, July, August, October and November 2017.
Asked by: Philip Davies (Conservative - Shipley)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, whether (a) he and (b) his (i) Ministers and (ii) officials have visited a CPL Ltd site during the 2017 Parliament; and if he will make a statement.
Answered by Thérèse Coffey
I visited the CPL site in Immingham in August 2017 as part of a series of stakeholder visits during summer recess. Officials also attended the visit.
Asked by: Philip Davies (Conservative - Shipley)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, whether his Department has commissioned research on the retail price differential between house coal and smokeless briquettes; and if he will make a statement.
Answered by Thérèse Coffey
In January, we launched a Call for Evidence on the domestic burning of house coal, smokeless coal, manufactured solid fuel and wet wood. Responses from the Call for Evidence included data on the price differential between house coal and smokeless briquettes and have been used to inform our analysis.
Asked by: Philip Davies (Conservative - Shipley)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, if he will respond to Early Day Motion 1711, tabled on 17 October 2018, entitled proposed ban on burning of house coal and wet wood; and if he will make a statement.
Answered by Thérèse Coffey
I am aware of the hon. Member’s Early Day Motion. Our consultation on a proposed ban on the sale of house coal and wet wood sold in small volumes closed in October and we are now analysing responses. As part of this we will be considering points raised by a wide range of stakeholders and others.
Asked by: Philip Davies (Conservative - Shipley)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, pursuant to the Answer of 16 October 2018 to Question 176140 on coal, what tonnage of house coal was the calculation based on that 3.3 kilotonnes of PM2.5 emissions were produced by burning house coal in the UK in 2016; and if he will make a statement.
Answered by Thérèse Coffey
The 3.3 kilotonnes of PM2.5 emissions from domestic burning of coal is based on the figure of 361.88 kilotonnes, taken from the 2016 Digest of United Kingdom Energy Statistics.