SUBSIDIES FOR BIOMASS ELECTRICITY GENERATION

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.