Written question asked by William Bain (Labour) on Thursday, 13 January 2011, in the House of Commons. It was due for an answer on Monday, 17 January 2011. It was answered by James Paice (Conservative) on Tuesday, 25 January 2011 on behalf of the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs.

Biochar

Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (1) whether she has made an assessment of the likely requirement for Government incentives in order for the development of biochar to be commercially viable;

Answer: DEFRA has not made an assessment of the likely requirement for Government incentives in order for the development of biochar to be commercially viable. However, DEFRA, in collaboration with the Department for Energy and Climate Change (DECC), has undertaken a review of the potential benefits, costs and issues surrounding the addition of biochar to soil. This found that the evidence base supporting the addition of biochar to soil was not particularly developed or robust, particularly under UK conditions, and that the potential for introducing contaminants to the soil from biochar was a particular concern. No further work has been planned. The study is available on the DEFRA website:"http://randd.defra.gov.uk"Biochar originates from biomass, and its production and combustion is eligible for support under DECC's renewables obligation mechanism. The level of support available will depend on the type of technology used to generate electricity; for example, if advanced pyrolysis or gasification is used, it would be awarded two renewable obligation certificates per megawatt hour.Biochar produced from virgin biomass will be subject to the sustainability criteria to be introduced in the renewables obligation from April 2011.

Secondary information