Written question asked by Jonathan Sayeed (Conservative) on Wednesday, 5 March 2003, in the House of Commons. It was due for an answer on Tuesday, 18 March 2003. It was answered by Brian Wilson (Labour) on Tuesday, 18 March 2003 on behalf of the Department of Trade and Industry.

Dept of Trade and Industry

Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry, for what reasons coal mine methane capture and electricity generation from disused coalmines receives no form of incentive through Government programmes.

Answer: Mr. Sayeed: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry for what reasons coal mine methane capture and electricity generation from disused coalmines receives no form of incentive through Government programmes. [102068] Mr. Wilson: The Government recognise and value the benefits the coal mine methane industry provides by tapping the methane emissions from disused coal mines and putting them to good use for generation of electricity. We have already demonstrated this support through our securing exemption from the Climate Change Levy for electricity generated from CMM in last year's budget, and this is currently being cleared with the European Commission. In addition, we concluded from our investigations that the environmental benefits of CMM-use can also be rewarded using the Emissions Trading Scheme (ETS), and hence we support the study DEFRA has commissioned to determine a baseline for CMM emissions that could enable it to qualify for this Scheme.

Secondary information