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

To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what assessment he has made of the potential merits of using hydrated vegetable oil to decarbonise off-grid residential properties which use standard residential heating oil.

The Government is consulting on new regulations to phase out heating systems using high carbon fossil fuels in homes, businesses and public buildings in England off the gas grid, during the 2020s.

Although the Government view, heat pumps as being the primary technology for decarbonising these homes and businesses, not all off-grid properties will be suitable for a heat pump and that biofuels such as bio-LPG and hydrotreated vegetable oil biodiesel (HVO) may play a role in future off-gas-grid decarbonisation. However, further evidence is needed to consider what role these biofuels could play, and to help, develop the policy framework which would support such a role.

A Call for Evidence was recently published by the department to inform the development of a Biomass Strategy. This strategy will review the amount of sustainable biomass available to the UK, including liquid biofuels, and how this could be best used across the economy to achieve the net zero target.