Asked by: Peter Bottomley (Conservative - Worthing West)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what discussions his Department has had with (a) Scouts UK and (b) other charities on increased energy costs; and what steps he is taking to support those organisations with those costs.
Answered by Graham Stuart - Minister of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
Discussions have taken place with a number of charities regarding increased energy costs. The Government is fully aware of the impact this is having on the voluntary sector.
This is why the Energy Bill Relief Scheme has been introduced, with legislation coming into force on 1 November, shielding charities across the United Kingdom from soaring energy prices and saving some around half of their wholesale energy costs. The scheme applies to energy usage from 1 October 2022 for an initial 6-month period.
Asked by: Peter Bottomley (Conservative - Worthing West)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, how much funding from the public purse has been authorised and over what time period to subsidise burning wood products at Drax; what the range of future public liabilities is for Drax's operations; and if he will make a statement.
Answered by Graham Stuart - Minister of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
I refer my Hon. Friend to the answer given by my Rt. Hon. Friend the then Minister of State for Business, Energy and Clean Growth to the Hon. Member for Liverpool, Riverside on 21st January 2022 to Question 103693.
Asked by: Peter Bottomley (Conservative - Worthing West)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, if he will consult Parliament on whether to extend Government funding for the burning of pellets for fresh wood at Drax beyond 2027.
Answered by Greg Hands - Minister of State (Department for Business and Trade)
There are no intentions to extend any contracts under the Renewables Obligation or Contracts for Difference schemes. In November 2021 the Government announced it would develop a business model to support bio-based power generation with carbon capture and storage. Any implementation of this would be subject to the appropriate parliamentary procedures.
Asked by: Peter Bottomley (Conservative - Worthing West)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what estimate he has made of the potential maximum annual amount of CO2 that captured in the UK (a) bioenergy with carbon capture, use and storage and (b) that technology operating at Drax power station by 2050.
Answered by Greg Hands - Minister of State (Department for Business and Trade)
Through the Biomass Strategy, which will be published later this year, the UK will establish the role of Bioenergy with Carbon Capture & Storage (BECCS) in reducing carbon emissions across the economy and set out how the technology could be deployed.
The Net Zero Strategy, outlined the UK’s ambition of 5MtCO2/year of engineered removals by 2030 and included illustrative ranges of 22-23MtCO2/year of engineered removals by 2035 and 75- 81MtCO2/year by 2050. Power BECCS projects have the potential to play a role in reaching these ambitions.
The UK is currently assessing the potential for carbon capture at existing UK biomass plants, however no decision has been made on future BECCS deployment or the award of power BECCS contracts.
Asked by: Peter Bottomley (Conservative - Worthing West)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, when he plans to arrange the meeting requested by the hon. Member for Worthing West to discuss burning north American wood products at UK power stations.
Answered by Greg Hands - Minister of State (Department for Business and Trade)
My office will be in contact shortly to arrange a suitable date for this meeting.
Asked by: Peter Bottomley (Conservative - Worthing West)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what estimate he has made of the quantity of gas the UK (a) used, (b) imported and (c) extracted (i) onshore and (ii) offshore in each year from 2010; and what forecast he has made of the amount of gas the UK will (A) use, (B) import and (C) extract (1) onshore and (2) offshore in each year to 2040.
Answered by Greg Hands - Minister of State (Department for Business and Trade)
Gas demand (gas used) is published in Energy Trends Table 4.1, with data up to September 2021. Data for October to December 2021 will be released in this table on 31 March 2022.
Gas imports and gas extracted are published in Energy Trends Table 4.2, with data up to November 2021. Data for December 2021 will be released in this table on 24 February 2022. See Energy Trends Table 4.4 for a breakdown of import sources.
Gas extracted onshore and offshore is published in the Digest of UK Energy Statistics in Table F.2, with data up to 2020. Data for 2021 will be released in this table on 28 July 2022.
Forecasts of gas extraction and demand in each year to 2050 are published by the Oil and Gas Authority in their Projections of UK oil and gas production and expenditure. There are not forecasts for imports, or a breakdown for offshore and onshore production.
Asked by: Peter Bottomley (Conservative - Worthing West)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what proportion of the wood burnt in the Drax power station is sourced from the (a) UK and (b) rest of the world.
Answered by Greg Hands - Minister of State (Department for Business and Trade)
This information is reported by suppliers to OFGEM. The latest dataset can be accessed here: https://www.ofgem.gov.uk/publications/biomass-sustainability-dataset-2019-20.
Asked by: Peter Bottomley (Conservative - Worthing West)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, if he will make a statement on the decision of S&P Global Dow Jones to remove Drax from its Global Clean Energy Index.
Answered by Greg Hands - Minister of State (Department for Business and Trade)
The decision of S&P Global Dow Jones to remove Drax from its Global Clean Energy Index is a commercial decision for S&P Global Dow Jones.
The Government only supports biomass usage that complies with strict sustainability criteria.
Asked by: Peter Bottomley (Conservative - Worthing West)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, which institutions and societies are in receipt of how much block grant funding from the Government through the British Academy.
Answered by Lord Johnson of Marylebone
Funding arrangements for the British Academy-Sponsored Institutes and Societies (BASIS) programme have not been changed. The seven independent Schools and Institutes within the BASIS Programme collectively have an important role in advancing science diplomacy and promoting UK higher education in their regions, and we value the close connections with foreign government ministries, British diplomatic missions and the British Council that are fostered through the BASIS Programme.
The Science & Research budget allocation for the National Academies for 2016-17 to 2019-20 was published on 4 March. The allocation provided for real terms protection for the British Academy’s BASIS programme, enabling the Academy to continue to provide the BASIS Institutes with substantial block grant support throughout this period. Details of direct funding received by the BASIS Programme through its grant from the British Academy, as well as details of the cumulative payments made by the British Academy to individual schools and institutes within the programme, are published in the British Academy Annual Report, available at www.britac.ac.uk/about/annualrep/index.cfm.
Asked by: Peter Bottomley (Conservative - Worthing West)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what assessment he has made of the contribution of British Academy-sponsored institutions to the reputation and standing of the British academic sector overseas; and if he will make an assessment of the potential effect on that contribution of moving from block grant arrangements to project-based funding for those bodies.
Answered by Lord Johnson of Marylebone
Funding arrangements for the British Academy-Sponsored Institutes and Societies (BASIS) programme have not been changed. The seven independent Schools and Institutes within the BASIS Programme collectively have an important role in advancing science diplomacy and promoting UK higher education in their regions, and we value the close connections with foreign government ministries, British diplomatic missions and the British Council that are fostered through the BASIS Programme.
The Science & Research budget allocation for the National Academies for 2016-17 to 2019-20 was published on 4 March. The allocation provided for real terms protection for the British Academy’s BASIS programme, enabling the Academy to continue to provide the BASIS Institutes with substantial block grant support throughout this period. Details of direct funding received by the BASIS Programme through its grant from the British Academy, as well as details of the cumulative payments made by the British Academy to individual schools and institutes within the programme, are published in the British Academy Annual Report, available at www.britac.ac.uk/about/annualrep/index.cfm.