Subsidies For Biomass Electricity Generation

EDM number 1771 in 2017-19, proposed by Roger Godsiff on 29/10/2018.

That this House expresses its concern that renewable energy subsidies for electricity generated from biomass, most of which is generated using imported wood pellets, are resulting in energy bill-payers paying for expensive, high-carbon electricity; notes that burning wood to generate electricity is a high-carbon power source; further notes that burning biomass to generate electricity damages forests and biodiversity, pollutes communities in source countries and at the point of generation and worsens climate change; notes that more than £1 billion in biomass subsidies were paid out in 2017, equivalent to more than £38 per household; notes the recent warning by the IPCC that substantial progress on comprehensive decarbonisation of the economy must be made in just a dozen years if we are to avoid catastrophic damage to the climate; calls on the Government to follow the logic of its recent decision effectively to end new subsidy for large-scale import-dependent biomass under Contracts for Difference, and to remove subsidy for biomass under the Renewable Obligation scheme; and further calls on the Government to instead direct funding towards renewable, low-carbon electricity sources including solar and wind.

This motion has been signed by a total of 18 MPs.