Licensed Oil and Gas Fields: Emissions
Debate between Baroness Jones of Moulsecoomb and Lord Hunt of Kings Heath(1 month, 1 week ago)
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Baroness Jones of Moulsecoomb
To ask His Majesty’s Government how they plan to assess the ‘scope 3 emissions’ of licensed oil and gas fields, and what impact they have on their emission reduction targets.
The Minister of State, Department for Energy Security and Net Zero (Lord Hunt of Kings Heath) (Lab)
My Lords, the Government have consulted on supplementary environmental guidance relating to emissions from burning extracted oil and gas. We are working towards publication of finalised guidance as soon as possible. Emissions produced by burning oil and gas are accounted for in our domestic targets for the sectors which use these fuels. Emissions are not accounted for in carbon budgets if this fuel is burned outside the United Kingdom.
Baroness Jones of Moulsecoomb (GP)
My Lords, I am sure the whole House will be with me in expressing concern about the collision in the North Sea and in sending hope to the rescue services, the sailors and, of course, all marine life.
I thank the Minister for his Answer. That was exactly what I was concerned about. Once the gas and oil are extracted, the total emissions should then be accounted for, on the assumption that it will all be burned, whether or not it is exported or moved somewhere else.
Lord Hunt of Kings Heath (Lab)
My Lords, first, I join the noble Baroness in expressing my sympathy to all concerned in the tragic events that have taken place in the North Sea. I also agree with her that we should pay tribute to the emergency services—and, of course, we are very concerned about the environmental impact.
I ought to explain to the House that scope 1 emissions are direct company emissions that occur from sources owned or controlled by the company. Scope 2 are indirect emissions resulting from generation of purchased energy, typically electricity, or purchased heat. Scope 3 are all indirect emissions not included in scope 2 that occur in the value chain of the reporting company and include downstream and upstream emissions—if noble Lords wished to know what those scopes were.
The point here is that we would be double-counting the emissions—or that is the risk—if we went down the route that the noble Baroness suggests. We had this consultation in the light of the Finch judgment, because we needed to revise the environmental impact assessment to take account of scope 3 emissions. We are carefully considering the consultation at the moment, and it would be premature for me to say anything more at this stage.
Climate Change
Debate between Baroness Jones of Moulsecoomb and Lord Hunt of Kings Heath(1 month, 2 weeks ago)
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Lord Hunt of Kings Heath (Lab)
My Lords, clearly, these are matters for individual companies to decide, but I say to the noble Earl that notwithstanding individual decisions made by such companies, overall, we are seeing a massive expansion in renewable and low-carbon energy throughout the world. Of course, the Paris Agreement and the nationally determined contributions that countries are making towards it will spearhead the move towards a low-carbon, low-emission economy. Whatever setbacks there may be, we must continue to work on that basis.
Baroness Jones of Moulsecoomb (GP)
My Lords, do the Government agree with Bermuda and countries that are suggesting a tax on kerosene jet fuel? It is a pollutant that is currently untaxed, and the idea is that the money from that tax should go into a fund that poorer countries can access in order to set up their own renewable energy systems.
Lord Hunt of Kings Heath (Lab)
No, my Lords, I am not aware that the Government are looking at that suggestion favourably. However, the offer we made at COP 29 for an 81% emission reduction by 2035 is a very substantive offer indeed. We need to work towards that. We also have to work towards the seventh carbon budget. We received the advice on how we will do that from the Climate Change Committee only last week, and that is where we should focus our efforts.
Drax Power Limited: Ofgem Investigation
Debate between Baroness Jones of Moulsecoomb and Lord Hunt of Kings Heath(5 months, 1 week ago)
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Lord Hunt of Kings Heath (Lab)
My Lords, first, it is not for Ministers to tell Ofgem how to regulate; we have to rely on its rigorous approach. Secondly, in the US and Canada, we depend on the rigorousness of the regulators locally. Ofgem’s job is to ensure that, as a whole, sustainability criteria are correct. I do not believe that it would be fair to say that Ofgem is not doing a thorough job. That is not my experience.
Baroness Jones of Moulsecoomb (GP)
My Lords, it is clear that this Government know that what is coming from Drax is not renewable energy. At the moment, every single energy bill payer in Britain pays Drax for renewable energy. It is not renewable; the company emits 12 million tonnes of carbon a year. The Government know that and choose to allow international regulations to cover it up.
Lord Hunt of Kings Heath (Lab)
My Lords, I do not recognise what the noble Baroness says. It is true that Drax is an emitter of carbon but that is offset—netted off—by the new forestry growth that takes place and absorbs the carbon. This is not a fanciful notion by the Government; the International Energy Agency, the IPCC and the Committee on Climate Change all accept that biomass, as long as sustainability criteria are applied and accepted, is in that way a low-carbon renewable energy.