Asked by: Mark Logan (Conservative - Bolton North East)
Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:
To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, if she will make an assessment of the potential merits of introducing a scheme to facilitate the installation of heat pumps in suitable homes with the cost structured as a long-term property linked loan as a means to promote the adoption of clean energy technologies.
Answered by Graham Stuart
Catalysing a market for green finance, which can help meet the costs of retrofit, is a Departmental priority. The Green Home Finance Accelerator is making £20m available to support the testing of innovative solutions. Twenty-six projects were awarded grants for initial development work. One, led by Leeds City Council, explored options for property linked finance. Twenty-three of these projects, including Leeds, recently applied to progress to pilot. Successful applicants will be announced shortly. Assessments of potential will be made once the pilots conclude.
Additionally, the Government has raised grants under the Boiler Upgrade Scheme to £7,500 to support households to replace fossil fuel boilers with low-carbon air-source heat pumps.
Asked by: Mark Logan (Conservative - Bolton North East)
Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:
To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, what assessment she has made of the potential impact of the environmental horticulture, landscaping and arboriculture sector on net zero targets.
Answered by Graham Stuart
The Net Zero Strategy sets out the UK's ambition to reduce emissions from Department for Environment, Food & Rural Affairs sectors as part of an overall reduction across the economy of 77% by Carbon Budget 6. Nature-based solutions, like restoring peat and planting trees, are key to tackling climate change and averting its impacts. They deliver multiple benefits for climate, biodiversity and people, and can therefore play an important role in reaching net zero.
Asked by: Mark Logan (Conservative - Bolton North East)
Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:
To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, what steps she is taking to increase domestic oil and gas production.
Answered by Graham Stuart
The Government supports new licensing rounds in the North Sea to slow the decline in production from what is a mature basin while supporting industry to reduce production emissions. As reaffirmed in the Powering Up Britain Energy Security Plan, the North Sea Transition Authority (NSTA) launched the 33rd oil and gas exploration licensing round in October last year and is expected to award the first licences from this round later this year. The Government and the NSTA have announced a joint commitment to undertake future licensing rounds, subject to a climate compatibility test.