Methane from Landfill Sites

7. What assessment he has made of the potential impact of trends in the level of methane harvested from landfill sites on energy security.

Methane harvested from landfill sites enables the generation of around 2.5 TWh a year, which is around 1% of the UK’s electricity. Many of those assets receive a subsidy through the renewables obligation, which expires in 2027. That generation has a supportive, but limited, effect on energy security. Given the high impact of methane, my Department and the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs are considering long-term solutions to landfill gas methane capture and appropriate transitional arrangements.

At a time when families are already under pressure from high energy bills, what assessment has the Minister made of the risk that, without action before April 2027, declining landfill gas generation will undermine energy security and increase costs for consumers?

I reiterate that although methane harvested from such sites and used to generate electricity plays a role in electricity generation, it is less than 1% overall, so it is not an issue for our energy security. As the sites age, the amount of methane they omit reduces, and that reduction has been factored into our plans. We are looking at what transitional arrangements are needed to deal with both the methane issue and the electricity that is generated from it, and we will consult in due course.

I thank the Minister, as always, for his answers. It is important that we all get the advantages of the level of methane harvested from landfill sites. In Northern Ireland we also have landfill sites, with a lot of rubbish and therefore a lot of methane possibilities. I know that the Minister visits Northern Ireland regularly, so what discussions has he had with the relevant Minister there to ensure that we can get the advantages that he mentioned in his reply to the hon. Member for Warrington South (Sarah Hall)?

I thank the hon. Gentleman for his kind comments. My visits to Northern Ireland are important to me, and at the very first meeting of the reconstituted inter-ministerial working group we had a conversation on that exact question: how can we support the reduction of methane across the UK, and how can we support that through the electricity system? Clearly, that is a transferred matter in Northern Ireland, but I continue to have those conversations with colleagues in the Executive.