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Energy Supplies

Volume 455: debated on Tuesday 9 January 2007

To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what proportion of the (a) total UK renewable energy supply and (b) total UK energy supply is accounted for by (i) industrial wood, (ii) domestic wood, (iii) co-firing, (iv) waste combustion, (v) landfill gas, (vi) sewage gas and (vii) other biofuels; and if he will make a statement (113446)

The latest available data are for the calendar year 2005 and are published in Table 7.7 of the Digest of United Kingdom Energy Statistics, 2006 as follows:

Renewable sources used (thousand tonnes of oil equivalent)

Percentage of UK renewable energy supply

Percentage of total UK primary energy demand

Industrial wood

80.9

1.9

<0.1

Domestic wood

204.2

4.8

0.1

Co-firing of biomass with fossil fuels

830.7

19.6

0.3

Waste combustion

460.0

10.8

0.2

Landfill gas

1,420.8

33.5

0.6

Sewage gas

179.1

4.2

0.1

Other biofuels

362.4

8.5

0.1

Other renewable sources

704.4

16.7

0.3

Total energy supplied by renewables in terms of primary input

4,245.5

100

1.7

Total UK primary energy demand

246,884

100

The contribution of renewables to total UK primary energy demand has grown from 1.3 per cent. in 2003 to 1.5 per cent. in 2004 and 1.7 per cent. in 2006. Thermal renewable sources appear to make a larger contribution to energy supplied by renewables when measured in primary energy terms because, by definition, the primary inputs of non-thermal sources such as wind and hydro are equal to the electricity produced and there are thus no conversion losses.