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Energy Bill

moved Amendment No. 55: 55: Before Clause 80, insert the following new Clause— ““Co-firing of biomass It is a requirement that any new-build, coal-fired power generation plant has the capability for a minimum of 10% of its output to come from the co-firing of biomass.”” The noble Lord said: This is a simple amendment, which would require any new power station that uses coal as fuel to produce a minimum of 10 per cent of its output through the co-firing of biomass. We have already had quite a detailed discussion on the pros and cons of using biomass in the generation of electricity from coal-fired power stations, and a number of power stations in the pipeline at the moment have met a great deal of opposition because of the carbon content and dirty nature of coal and its CO2 emissions. This would be a way of ameliorating the effect of any new-build coal-fired power stations, if such power stations have to be built in the future, and would be a sensible way forward. A target of 10 per cent is not too high, because it is achievable. It would lead to great savings in CO2. It is estimated that the co-firing at Drax will save about 3 million tonnes of CO2. If we are talking about new power stations, we really must think about how we can do everything in our power to reduce the carbon content of the fuel mix. The amendment would be a sensible solution. I beg to move.