An amendment to the Energy Bill was tabled by Andrew Stunnel (see the link below) which was debated in the House of Commons in the final reading of the Bill before it returns to the House of Lords.

"New clause 19 addresses the issue of a renewable heat obligation, and we have had some interesting discussion of that point. It is an interesting idea and an important issue that we also discussed in Committee. Introducing such a measure, even in the permissive way in which new clause 19 is helpfully drafted, would be rash, given the little time that we have had to give it the serious consideration it deserves. We first need to do some serious analytical work, and we will. I shall meet representatives of several interested parties, including Friends of the Earth, which has rightly been mentioned, to hear how their ideas for renewable heat are evolving.

An obligation approach, as proposed by the hon. Member for Hazel Grove (Mr. Stunell)—I am pleased to see that he is in his place—may prove to be the best way forward. The Royal Commission on Environmental Pollution has referred to that approach, but other options need to be examined, too. We would need to examine the costs of a support scheme to the consumer and the impact on other policies to tackle fuel poverty. If we excluded the domestic sector from such a scheme, we would need to consider the administrative costs and whether they would be justified for the limited market that would be left.

The Royal Commission on Environmental Pollution has also recommended a Renewable Heat Obligation, see the link to their report below.

Ilex Energy Consulting has produced a report for DEFRA titled Possible support mechanims for biomass-generated heat see link below.