Asked by: Richard Holden (Conservative - Basildon and Billericay)
Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:
To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, whether his Department has made a comparative assessment of the potential environmental impact of (a) importing coal from abroad for domestic consumption and (b) mining coal in the UK.
Answered by Michael Shanks - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
In line with our net zero target, we committed to phasing out unabated coal-fired power generation by 1st October 2024, a year earlier than the original 2025 target, and on September 30th Great Britain’s last coal fired electricity power plant, Ratcliffe-upon-Soar, closed. This means we have reduced coal’s share of our electricity supply from around a third, to zero in the space of only ten years. Most imported coal is used by industry, including steel making, cement and chemical industries, and patent fuel manufacture.
Coal production and import information can be found here:
https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/66a7a172a3c2a28abb50d8be/DUKES_2024_Chapter_2.pdf
Asked by: Richard Holden (Conservative - Basildon and Billericay)
Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:
To ask the Secretary of State for Energy, Security and Net Zero, pursuant to the Answer of 26 July 2024 to Question 1982 on Coal: Imports and Production and the Answer of 30 August 2024 to Question 3169 on Coal: Railways, if he will make an assessment of the potential merits of granting further coal mining licenses, in the context of trends in the level of demand for coal in the rail industry.
Answered by Michael Shanks - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
Our manifesto was clear on our intention to not grant new coal licences and we are exploring avenues to achieve this.
Asked by: Richard Holden (Conservative - Basildon and Billericay)
Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:
To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, pursuant to the Answer of 26 July 2024 to Question 1981 on Electricity: Infrastructure, whether his Department has had such discussions in the period since the publication of the most recent quarterly list of meetings.
Answered by Michael Shanks - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
I refer the hon Member to the answer I gave to UIN 1981. A record of Ministerial meetings is updated periodically on Gov.UK.
Asked by: Richard Holden (Conservative - Basildon and Billericay)
Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:
To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, pursuant to the Answer of 1 August 2024 to Question 1982 on Coal: Imports and Production, if he will make an estimate of the amount of coal the UK heritage rail requires on an annual basis.
Answered by Michael Shanks - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
The Digest of UK Energy Statistics (DUKES) Table 2.1 on Coal Commodities states that the annual figure for heritage railways usage is 15,000 tonnes - https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/66a7a17249b9c0597fdb066a/DUKES_2.1.xlsx
Asked by: Richard Holden (Conservative - Basildon and Billericay)
Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:
To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, what estimate he has made of the (a) amount of oil and gas that the North Sea will produce in each year until 2060 and (b) tax revenue generated from that oil and gas (i) directly from North Sea oil taxes and (ii) in taxes from employment; how much oil and gas will need to be imported each year between now and 2060; and from which countries that oil and gas will be imported from.
Answered by Michael Shanks - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
The North Sea Transition Authority publishes UK oil and gas production projections to 2050 and the OBR’s latest forecasts for oil and gas tax revenues up to 2028/29 was published in the March 2024 Economic and Fiscal Outlook. Future years will be included in future forecasts. Tax revenues from oil and gas employment will be included under forecasts for Income Tax and National Insurance, which are not separated by industry.
The Energy Security Plan Update, published in December 2023, included an assessment of the role of imports in meeting our domestic gas demand until 2050. The department also publishes projections of the UK’s future demand for oil (under existing and near-final policy) and monitors both UK production and demand as part of the regular departmental output.
These assessments will be updated in due course to reflect the new government's policy.
Asked by: Richard Holden (Conservative - Basildon and Billericay)
Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:
To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, whether he has had discussions with his German counterpart on the potential impact of an underground first policy towards new electricity infrastructure.
Answered by Michael Shanks - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
Details of Ministers’ meetings with external individuals and organisations are published quarterly in arrears on GOV.UK.
Asked by: Richard Holden (Conservative - Basildon and Billericay)
Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:
To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, how much coal is (a) required annually by the UK heritage rail sector and (b) produced in the UK; which countries the non-UK supplies originate from, by annual tonnage; and what assessment he has made of the comparative CO2 impact of (i) importing coal from overseas and (ii) domestically producing coal.
Answered by Michael Shanks - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
The Department does not hold specific data on coal and the heritage rail sector. Breakdowns of coal usage, production and imports are available in the Digest of UK Energy Statistics (DUKES) - https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/solid-fuels-and-derived-gases-chapter-2-digest-of-united-kingdom-energy-statistics-dukes
The source of coal for use in heritage steam and other industries is a private matter for the organisations involved. The coal extraction industry is in decline in the UK and there is currently only one commercial coal mine in operation. We do not intend to grant new coal licences.
Asked by: Richard Holden (Conservative - Basildon and Billericay)
Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:
To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, if he will make an estimate of the amount of solar energy generated by ensuring that five per cent of (a) industrial and (b) commercial roofs are covered with solar panels.
Answered by Michael Shanks - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
The Government does not take a prescriptive approach to the amount of rooftop solar deployment required, nor to the mix between installation on domestic and non-domestic properties. Therefore, no such estimate has been made. However, the Government is clear that rooftop solar will play an important role in achieving its ambition of tripling existing solar capacity by 2030. Further details will be included in the upcoming publication of the Solar Roadmap.
Asked by: Richard Holden (Conservative - Basildon and Billericay)
Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:
To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, if he will make an assessment of the potential merits of an underground first approach to new electricity infrastructure connecting offshore North Sea wind farms to Tilbury.
Answered by Michael Shanks - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
Proposed changes to the energy National Policy Statements (NPSs) were consulted on between 30 March 2023 to 23 June 2023 under the previous government. Following this a revised version of the National Policy Statement for electricity networks infrastructure was designated on 17 January 2024. This sets out that overhead lines should be the strong starting presumption for electricity networks developments in general, except in nationally designated landscapes where undergrounding is the starting presumption. The government does not make assessments for specific projects until they come to the Secretary of State for final planning decision.