Asked by: Baroness Bennett of Manor Castle (Green Party - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:
To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the report by Global Witness on 8 November 2023 that BP and its project partners had transferred $35 billion-worth of oil and gas production to the government of Azerbaijan since 2020, the year that war broke out in the disputed territory of Nagorno-Karabakh, and whether they plan to take any action in response.
Answered by Lord Callanan
The Government has made no such assessment.
Asked by: Baroness Bennett of Manor Castle (Green Party - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:
To ask His Majesty's Government what consideration they have given to extending the £7,000 available to homeowners to support air source heat pump installation through the Boiler Upgrade Scheme to support heat networks; and what other steps they are taking to encourage heat pump installations in areas of terraced housing where ground or air source heat pump installation may prove impractical.
Answered by Lord Callanan
The Boiler Upgrade Scheme provides upfront grants to support the installation of air source heat pumps, ground source heat pumps and biomass boilers in individual properties. Ground source heat pumps attached to a shared ground loop are eligible, where the system capacity does not exceed 45kW.
We are working with industry and local authorities to develop new heat networks and improve existing ones, including through an additional £530m to extend the Heat Network Transformation Programme to 2028, and introducing heat network zoning in 2025 to identify areas where heat networks are expected to be the lowest cost solution for decarbonising heat.
Asked by: Baroness Bennett of Manor Castle (Green Party - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:
To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the environmental impact of the planned redevelopment of Cloghan Point oil terminal into a storage and distribution hub for all forms of fossil fuels for Northern Ireland and beyond, including the impact on the UK's carbon emissions.
Answered by Lord Callanan
This is a devolved matter. Environmental assessments of projects in Northern Ireland are carried out by the NI Environment Agency.
Asked by: Baroness Bennett of Manor Castle (Green Party - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:
To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the Campaign for the Protection of Rural England’s report Shout from the rooftops, published on 23 May, regarding the recommendation for a target for 60 per cent of solar energy to come from rooftop, brownfield, and grey spaces; and whether they plan to set such a target.
Answered by Lord Callanan
The Government is aiming for 70 gigawatts of solar capacity by 2035 which will require significant increases in deployment of all types of solar – rooftop on domestic, industrial, and commercial buildings; and ground-mount mainly on brownfield, industrial and low and medium grade agricultural land.
The Government has no plans to set sub targets for solar as flexibility is needed to allow for technology changes and emerging opportunities out to 2035.
Asked by: Baroness Bennett of Manor Castle (Green Party - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:
To ask His Majesty's Government whether climate change emissions from British Overseas Territories are part of the UK's total accounting for emissions and included in the Net Zero by 2050 target; and what (1) organisational structures, and (2) staffing levels, they have in place to work with those Overseas Territories to reduce emissions.
Answered by Lord Callanan
Only emissions from the UK territory are in scope of domestic Carbon Budgets and the Net Zero target, in accordance with Section 89 of the Climate Change Act 2008. Emissions from UK Crown Dependencies and Overseas Territories (CDOTS) are not included. The UK’s ratification of the Paris Agreement, including its 2030 Nationally Determined Contribution (NDC), is being extended to include CDOTS. To date, the Paris Agreement, and the NDC, have been extended to the Crown Dependencies of Jersey and the Isle of Man and the Overseas Territory of Gibraltar. The UK Government will meet with CDOTS to discuss progress against the NDC.
Asked by: Baroness Bennett of Manor Castle (Green Party - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:
To ask His Majesty's Government what plans they have to protect Economy 7 energy customers from the high cost of energy they are now experiencing.
Answered by Lord Callanan
As with energy consumers on other tariff types, Economy 7 customers have been supported by, and continue to be helped by the Energy Price Guarantee (EPG), which limits the unit rate of energy. The average GB domestic consumer has saved £900 through the EPG.
The EPG provides the same unit discount across all domestic consumers regardless of region and payment method. This means that the underlying differences in the cost to serve different payment types and regions that underpins the Ofgem price cap is maintained.