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

To ask His Majesty's Government what knowledge they had, if any, of renewable energy company Drax purchasing licences to cut down trees from primary forests in Canada to make wood pellets for its power station in Yorkshire, as alleged in the BBC's Panorama investigation, which aired on 3 October.

The regulator Ofgem is responsible for auditing the sustainability of biomass used by biomass electricity generators which receive support under the Renewables Obligation and has a process in place for this. As is routine, Ofgem is establishing whether the biomass sustainability criteria have been met by the generator. These criteria ensure that only sustainable biomass is used to produce renewable electricity. Sustainability information is publicly available on Ofgem’s website.

To receive support generators must follow sustainable management practices that require the maintenance and replanting of the forest, demonstration that deforestation is not occurring where they source material from, and that biodiversity, soil and water are protected, among other requirements.