Source · Select Committees · Public Accounts Committee
Recommendation 5
5
Accepted
Develop approach to identify and mitigate risks to domestic and international biomass supply.
Conclusion
There are number of risks to the supply of biomass that need effective management. DESNZ’s Biomass Strategy identified a number of challenges for its use in the future which it needs to manage, including making sure that it has a secure supply of biomass and that it prioritises its use. In 2022, around two–thirds of biomass used in electricity generation, heat and transport was produced from domestic sources, with a third imported. The Department describes itself as agnostic as to whether biomass is sourced domestically or from overseas. However, the Climate Change Committee’s most recent advice, covering Carbon Budget 7, suggests that sustainable biomass will become harder to source on global markets. It therefore expects imports of biomass to have ceased by 2050, with domestic sources providing all the biomass required. But there are competing pressures on land use at home–for example, food production and reforestation. The Department for Environment, Food & Rural Affairs is currently consulting on a ‘Land Use Framework’ which will help inform 6 decisions on how best to use land to meet government’s various priorities. Meanwhile importing biomass involves long supply chains, which makes assuring sustainability criteria are met challenging. Such challenges may be amplified by the USA’s withdrawal from the Paris Agreement. recommendation DESNZ should make sure it has an approach in place for identifying and then mitigating the risks to the supply of biomass, both domestically and internationally. 7 1 Biomass sustainability and supply Introduction
Government Response Summary
The government agrees and states it continuously monitors the biomass supply landscape, including regulatory changes and market dynamics. It emphasizes ongoing reliance on international pellet supply, primarily from the US, as domestic production at a comparable scale is not possible.
Government Response
Accepted
HM Government
Accepted
The government agrees with the Committee’s recommendation. landscape, ensuring that the government is abreast of changes to regulatory arrangements, market dynamics, and other factors that drive the supply of and demand for pellets. However, it is important to note that international pellet supply will continue to be vital to the delivery of UK electricity generation in the coming years. Most pellets used in the UK are sourced from the United States, where the availability of plentiful secondary materials and residue for pellet production - coupled with a robust, efficient supply chain - ensures that a reliable supply of pellets is available to meet the needs of UK generators. Biomass pellet production at a comparable scale would not be possible in the UK given the size and productivity of available forest resources. However, smaller-scale biomass generators can continue to be supplied by a variety of domestically sourced feedstock including wood waste, poultry litter and agricultural waste. These waste feedstocks provide a reliable source of domestic biomass supply but are not suitable for the technologies currently used by larger-scale generators. Treasury Minutes Archive1 Treasury Minutes are the government’s response to reports from the Committee of Public Accounts. Treasury Minutes are Command Papers laid in Parliament. Session 2024-25 Committee Recommendations: 188 Recommendations agreed: 175 (93%) Recommendations disagreed: 13 Publication Date PAC Reports Ref Number April 2025 Government response to PAC reports 1-4, 6-9 CP 1306 May 2025 Government response to PAC reports 5,10-17 CP 1328 June 2025 Government response to PAC reports 18-22 CP 1341 Session 2023-24 Committee Recommendations: 271 Recommendations agreed: 252 (93%) Recommendations disagreed: 19 Publication Date PAC Reports Ref Number February 2024 Government response to PAC reports 1-6 [80 Session 22-23] CP 1029 March 2024 Government response to PAC reports 7-11 CP 1057 April 2024 Government response to PAC reports 12-18 CP 1070 May 2024 Government response to PAC reports 19-24 CP 1085 September 2024 Government response to PAC reports 26-29, 31, 33-38 CP 1151 October 2024 Government response to PAC reports 25, 26, 30 and 32 CP 1174 Session 2022-23 Committee Recommendations: 551 Recommendations agreed: 489 (89%) Recommendations disagreed: 62 Publication Date PAC Reports Ref Number July 2022 Government response to PAC reports 1, 3 & 10 CP 722 August 2022 Government response to PAC reports 2, 4-8 CP 708 September 2022 Government response to PAC reports 9, 13-16 CP 745 November 2022 Government response to PAC reports 11, 12, 17 CP 755 December 2022 Government response to PAC reports 18-22 CP 774 January 2023 Government response to PAC reports 23-26 CP 781 February 2023 Government response to PAC reports 27-31 CP 802 March 2023 Government response to PAC reports 32-36 CP 828 May 2023 Government response to PAC reports 37-41 CP 845 June 2023 Government response to PAC reports 42-47 CP 847 July 2023 Government response to PAC reports 48-54 CP 902 August 2023 Government response to PAC reports 55-60 CP 921 1 List of Treasury Minutes responses for Sessions 2010-15 are annexed in the government’s response to PAC Report 52 Publication Date PAC Reports Ref Number September 2023 Government response to PAC reports 62-67 CP 941 November 2023 Government response to PAC reports 68-71 CP 968 January 2024 Government response to PAC reports 72-79 CP 1000 February 2024 Government response to PAC reports 80 [1-6 Session 23-24] CP 1029 Session 2021-22 Committee Recommendations: 362 Recommendations agreed: 333 (92%) Recommendations disagreed: 29 Publication Date PAC Reports Ref Number August 2021 Government response to PAC reports 1-6 CP 510 September 2021 Government response to PAC reports 8-11 CP 520 November 2021 Government response to PAC reports 7,13-16 (and TM2 BBC) CP 550 December 2021 Government response to PAC reports 12, 17-21 CP 583 January 2022 Government response to PAC reports 22-26 CP 603 February 2022 Government response to PAC reports 27-31 CP 631 April 2022 Government response to PAC reports 32-35 CP 649 April 2022 Government response to PAC reports 36-42 CP 667 July 2022 Government response to PAC reports 49-52 CP 722 Session 2019-21 Committee Recommendations: 233 Recommendations agreed: 208 (89%) Recommendations disagreed: 25 Publication Date PAC Reports Ref Number July 2020 Government responses to PAC reports 1-6 CP 270 September 2020 Government responses to PAC reports 7-13 CP 291 November 2020 Government responses to PAC reports 14-17 and 19 CP 316 January 2021 Government responses to PAC reports 18, 20-24 CP 363 February 2021 Government responses to PAC reports 25-29 CP 376 February 2021 Government responses to PAC reports 30-34 CP 389 March 2021 Government responses to PAC reports 35-39 CP 409 April 2021 Government responses to PAC reports 40- 44 CP 420 May 2021 Government responses to PAC reports 45-51 CP 434 June 2021 Government responses