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

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what assessment he has made of the potential merits of increased cultivation of miscanthus in the UK, in meeting the commitment to reach net-zero emissions by 2050.

The Climate Change Committee’s 6th Carbon Budget report highlighted the significant potential for domestic cultivation of perennial energy crops, like miscanthus, and short rotation forestry to contribute towards our carbon budget targets. The Government intends to publish a Biomass Strategy later this year, that will set out our view on how biomass can best contribute towards net zero across the economy, including the potential role for perennial energy crops like domestically grown miscanthus.

In parallel with the development of the Biomass Strategy, the Government has announced £30 million of funding for the Biomass Feedstocks Innovation programme, which is designed to increase the production of sustainable UK biomass feedstocks. Under Phase 1 of the programme, 25 projects were supported to develop innovation ideas, with the portfolio of biomass feedstocks including five Miscanthus focused projects. The knowledge developed from these projects will help to inform any future policy on domestic biomass.