Energy: Wind Turbines
Debate between Lord Marland and Lord Clark of Windermere
Lord Marland
I must say that it is jolly good fun being in government, particularly with the support of your own Benches. I think I also heard some cry from the other Benches. The noble Baroness asks an extremely valuable question. I suppose the answer is incumbent upon most noble Lords in this room. For 25 years, we have had no investment in the infrastructure of the energy system in this country. We are going to have to grab energy from every source we can, and that is what this Government are committed to doing. And it will cost. If you have been doing nothing for 25 years and not invested in infrastructure, of course it is going to cost. We regret that, but it is a fact of life.
Lord Clark of Windermere
My Lords, does the Minister accept that the Government are not going to meet their green targets unless they can enrol the support of the public sector? Is he aware that his department under the previous Administration set up a working party to see how this could be done? Will he reinvestigate that? In particular, will he encourage the Forestry Commission to use its land outside the national parks and other beautiful areas for wind power, and especially for micro hydropower?
Lord Marland
That was an extremely good observation and of course, as I said earlier, we need all hands to the pump. We certainly need the support of the public sector.
Energy: Carbon Capture and Storage
Debate between Lord Marland and Lord Clark of Windermere
Lord Marland
The noble Lord is quite right. Coal is a very important producer of power in this country. That is why our priority on CCS must be coal, because it is a very dirty material—more dirty than gas. I can assure the noble Lord that that will be our primary focus, despite the thoughts of the Committee on Climate Change.
Lord Clark of Windermere
My Lords, does the Minister appreciate that trees are nature’s way of capturing carbon? Is he aware that a 4 per cent increase in tree planting in the UK would allow us to capture 10 per cent of our total greenhouse emissions? What plans do the Government have to increase tree planting? I declare an interest as former chair of the Forestry Commission.
Lord Marland
I am sure the noble Lord will understand that tree planting is not part of my brief, but he is absolutely right that trees are important in reducing carbon. We should of course always encourage that sort of thing.