Nuclear Power Stations

Debate between Baroness Meacher and Lord Duncan of Springbank

Monday 9th September 2019 Lords Chamber

[Lord Duncan of Springbank]

I thank the noble Lord for his welcome. Storage must be at the heart of our strategy, because we cannot get to net zero by 2050 without it. We will need to significantly increase our investment in this type of technology to understand it well. He will of course be aware that one of the most successful forms of storage is the pumped hydro, which again we need to examine in its manifest forms.

[Baroness Meacher (CB)]

My Lords, what action are the Government taking to develop the scientific method to withdraw CO₂ from our environment? We have passed the point when we can deal with climate change simply through reducing our emissions. One of the absolutely key answers has to be withdrawing CO₂ from the atmosphere.

[Lord Duncan of Springbank]

The noble Baroness asks a simple question which will get a complicated answer in response. A number of changes must take place in greening and reducing our emissions, not least within our domestic environment. We need to move away from the gas in our homes and the hydrocarbons in our cars, and we need to do that in the short term. We need a new strategy which will address the culture. This is not just about what government can do; it has to be about what individual households can do, recognising the cost of each change. We have a strategy, which is available on our website.