—NOTE: Although the DECC and Scottish Government consultations have closed, there is still time to lobby MPs and to try and influence the decisions. Please click here to write to your MP and share your concerns about subsidies for biofuel and biomass electricity. Please email us if you would like to find out more about how to campaign against those subsidies
The UK and Scottish Governments are right now reviewing subsidies for all types of electricity classed as renewable – including electricity from biofuels (most likely palm oil) and biomass (mainly imported wood).
Subsidies for biofuel and biomass electricity mean:
- Unprecedented levels imports of wood and, possibly palm oil for biofuels: As a result of public subsidies, companies have announced plans for power stations which would burn up to 60 million tonnes of wood a year – that’s over six times as much as the annual UK wood production. And a proposed ‘cap’ on electricity from biofuels is equivalent to five power stations like the palm oil one planned by W4B in Bristol – or five times as much palm oil as is used for biofuels in the Uk today.
- more forests and other ecosystems being destroyed, decimating biodiversity and worsening climate change.
- more land-grabbing for plantations in the global South, where most of the biofuels and much of the wood will come from – causing more hunger and human rights abuses;
- more air pollution and health risks for communities near new power stations in the UK.
Although public consultations have now closed, decisions are not expected until the spring. So there is still time to ask your MP and (if you live in Scotland) your MSP to speak out against ROCs for bio-electricity. Please note that the rules for those subsidies are devolved in Scotland but not in Wales.
Biofuelwatch believes that governments should:
- encourage genuine renewables instead, like wind, solar, and tidal, which we have an abundance of on this island.
- prioritise reducing our consumption of energy
Can you lobby your MP/MSP about ROCs?
The government proposals will need parliamentary approval, which is why it’s important to get your MPs on board.
+ Click here for a short briefing on issues you might want to raise with your MP/AM in England & Wales. For a more detailed briefing which you might want to give or send your MP/AM, see here. NOTE: if you are in Scotland, you may also wish to raise the issues with your MP to feed into the Westminster Consultation.
+ An Early Day Motion (2428) has been launched which calls for subsidies for bioliquid and biomass electricity to be removed and redirected towards sutainable renewable energy and please ask your MP to sign this.
Click here for a briefing on issues to raise with your MSP in Scotland.
+ Please email us if you would like to find out more about how to get involved in this campaign.
Would you like more information?
Click here for a detailed briefing on what the consultation means in England and Wales
Click here for a detailed briefing on what the consultation means in Scotland.
Click here for a summary of the impacts associated subsidies for electricity from bioenergy and waste incineration.