Scotland: New Nuclear Power Generation
Debate between Lord Forsyth of Drumlean and Lord Hunt of Kings Heath(2 weeks, 2 days ago)
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Lord Hunt of Kings Heath (Lab)
My Lords, I absolutely agree with my noble friend on the importance of the small modular reactor programme. He knows that Great British Nuclear is going through a selection process at the moment. We expect important announcements to be made in the spring.
Lord Forsyth of Drumlean (Con)
My Lords, power devolved is power retained. If the Scottish Government are not acting in the interests of the United Kingdom, with their opposition to nuclear power and to oil and gas, that will create great difficulties for the rest of the United Kingdom. Has the Minister considered taking back the power for them to prevent the appropriate infrastructure needs of the country as a whole?
Drax Power Limited: Ofgem Investigation
Debate between Lord Forsyth of Drumlean and Lord Hunt of Kings Heath(4 months, 3 weeks ago)
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Lord Forsyth of Drumlean (Con)
My Lords, is not the problem, as the noble Baroness has said, that the idea that cutting down trees in North America and California, turning them into pellets, dragging them across the Atlantic Ocean using diesel-powered ships, shipping them across the country and then burning them at Drax is somehow saving the planet is mad?
Lord Hunt of Kings Heath (Lab)
My Lords, I realise that it sometimes sounds counterintuitive. None the less, the carbon emitted during the supply-chain process, and in the process at Drax and places like it, is netted off by the growth in forestry, which absorbs the carbon. That is a well-accepted international approach. It produces 2.6 gigawatts at Drax, 4% of our electricity generation in this country, with over 2,500 people employed in the local region, and it is classified as renewable.