The below Parliamentary question was asked by Graham Stringer on 2014-06-04.
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, with reference to the Answer of 8 May 2014, Official Report, column 272W, on biofuels: air pollution, for what reasons estimated social costs of biomass emissions of fine particles contained in his Department’s Answer of 26 March 2009, Official Report, column 697W, on air pollution, were not reflected in that Answer; and for what reasons his Department no longer estimates the social costs of fine particles emitted by biomass combustion.
Dan Rogerson
The social (health) costs included in the answer of 26 March 2009 were calculated by Defra to evaluate specific scenarios of uptake of biomass heat in 2020. These costs were calculated for policy development purposes in accordance with Treasury Green Book guidance and methodologies developed with the support of the Interdepartmental Group on Costs and Benefits.
Estimates of emissions by source (including biomass emissions) are updated annually and reported in the National Atmospheric Emissions Inventory, but social (health) costs by emissions source are not routinely calculated.
Estimates of the health burden due to total anthropogenic fine particulate matter (PM2.5) in the UK are calculated as part of the Public Health Outcomes Framework indicator. This is based on modelled annual population weighted mean total anthropogenic PM2.5 levels in the UK.