Asked by: Roger Godsiff (Labour - Birmingham, Hall Green)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what assessment he has made of the detection of seismic activity caused by drilling on the continuation of fracking in Lancashire.
Answered by Claire Perry
In the UK, we have been regulating for gas and oil drilling, both onshore and offshore, for many years and have one of the best track records in the world when it comes to protecting our environment while also developing our industries.
The Oil and Gas Authority (OGA) monitors seismicity as part of their regulatory duties at shale gas sites. Before consent for hydraulic fracturing is granted, a Hydraulic Fracture Plan must be agreed with the OGA. Operators have to evaluate the historical and background seismicity and the in-situ stress regime, and delineate faults in the area of the proposed well to identify the risk of activating any fault by hydraulic fracturing. The fracture plan also includes appropriate plans to monitor seismicity before, during and after the well operations.
The OGA requires certain controls and requirements to be adhered to by an operator including following a real-time traffic light system during hydraulic fracturing. If a seismic event over 0.5ML on the ‘Richter Local Scale’ (a ‘red’ event) is detected and causally linked to the operations, hydraulic fracturing is suspended for a minimum of 18 hours.
Seismic events with a magnitude of 2.0 or below (on the Local Richter Scale) are usually not felt at the surface and a magnitude 0.5 is far below the ground motion caused by a passing vehicle, for context, the British Geological Survey has estimated that in the UK we have, on average, around 166 natural occurring earthquakes of 2.9ML and below per year.
Asked by: Roger Godsiff (Labour - Birmingham, Hall Green)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what (a) representations his Department has received and (b) assessment his Department has made since the publication of the IPCC report on global warming of 1.5 degrees on the potential (i) economic and (ii) climatic merits of amending the UK's third, fourth and fifth carbon budgets.
Answered by Claire Perry
The Department receives a wide variety of representations on many topics including the IPCC Special Report on global warming of 1.5 degrees.
We are leading the world in our response to the IPCC report – commissioning our independent experts, the Committee on Climate Change, for advice on our long-term targets a week after the report’s publication. We will consider the Committee’s advice carefully when received.
Asked by: Roger Godsiff (Labour - Birmingham, Hall Green)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what meetings have been held between representatives from BP and (a) his Ministers, (b) his officials and (c) representatives from the Oil and Gas Authority in each of the last two years.
Answered by Claire Perry
All Government Ministers and officials meet regularly with industry representatives, including those from the energy industry. A register of ministerial meetings is published on a quarterly basis as part of Departments’ transparency data.
Asked by: Roger Godsiff (Labour - Birmingham, Hall Green)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, pursuant to the Answer of 23 October 2018 to Question 180631, what progress has been made on developing carbon capture and storage; how many plants are using that technology; what the price per tonne is of carbon captured in the UK; what proportion of carbon emissions are captured; and what projection he has made of the proportion of carbon that will be captured in the next 30 years.
Answered by Claire Perry
Carbon Capture Usage and Storage (CCUS) has an important role in supporting decarbonisation of industry, power, heat and transport.
There are 18 large-scale CCUS projects operating globally capturing over 30 million tonnes of carbon dioxide each year. Although there are no large-scale CCUS projects operating in the UK, information on the estimated price per tonne of carbon captured across a range of CCUS projects can be found at:
https://www.globalccsinstitute.com/publications/global-costs-carbon-capture-and-storage
The Government is committed to supporting the development of CCUS in the UK. The Clean Growth Strategy included three illustrative pathways to meeting our 2050 target over the next thirty years. Two of these included a role for CCUS, with up to 170 Million tonnes of CO2e being captured and stored in 2050. CCUS can reduce emissions from our industrial centres, and offers opportunities to improve the competitiveness of UK industry. That is why we are investing £100 million to March 2021 on industrial energy and CCUS innovation.
Asked by: Roger Godsiff (Labour - Birmingham, Hall Green)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what assessment his Department has made of the time required to restructure the UK's economy to reach zero carbon emissions before 2050.
Answered by Claire Perry
Following the publication of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change’s special report on global warming of 1.5°C last month, I have asked our independent experts, the Committee on Climate Change, for their advice on the implications of the Paris Agreement for the UK’s long-term emissions reduction targets, including on setting a net zero target and how emissions reductions might be achieved across the economy.
We will consider their advice carefully when it is received.
Asked by: Roger Godsiff (Labour - Birmingham, Hall Green)
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 assess the effect of the decision to permit the development of the Alligin oil field in the North Sea on the UK's (a) carbon emissions and (b) ability to fulfil its commitments as a signatory to the Paris agreement on climate change.
Answered by Claire Perry
The decision to permit new oil and gas developments in the UK Continental Shelf is a matter for the independent regulator, the Oil and Gas Authority. In the UK, we have been producing oil and gas from offshore fields for more than 50 years and this new field will contribute to the UK’s diverse energy mix as we transition to a low carbon economy.
Asked by: Roger Godsiff (Labour - Birmingham, Hall Green)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what meetings (a) he, (b) the Minister with responsibility for Climate Change, (c) other Ministers in his Department and (d) officials in his Department have had with representatives of Cuadrilla in the last three years.
Answered by Claire Perry
All Government Ministers and officials meet regularly with industry representatives, including those from the energy industry. A register of ministerial meetings is published on a quarterly basis as part of Departments’ transparency data.
Asked by: Roger Godsiff (Labour - Birmingham, Hall Green)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, how he plans to assess the effectiveness of his Department's implementation of the recommendations that are forthcoming from the Committee on Climate Change in their response to the IPCC report on global warming of 1.5 degrees.
Answered by Claire Perry
Last month we asked the Committee on Climate Change for their advice on the implications of the Paris Agreement for the UK’s long-term emissions reduction targets, including on setting a net zero target. We expect to receive their response in spring 2019 and will consider their recommendations carefully before deciding any appropriate next steps to take.
Asked by: Roger Godsiff (Labour - Birmingham, Hall Green)
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 put in place immediately an export tariff regime for rooftop solar panels installed after March 2019; and for what reason such a regime is not already in place.
Answered by Claire Perry
We are considering responses to the recent Consultation proposing to close the Feed-in Tariffs (FIT) scheme, and the Call for Evidence on small-scale low-carbon generation. The Government will set out its response in due course.
Asked by: Roger Godsiff (Labour - Birmingham, Hall Green)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, pursuant to the Answer of 16 October 2018 to Question 175928 on Wind Power: Seas and Oceans, if he will make an assessment of the adequacy of offshore wind’s classification as a Pot 2 technology as a result of the development of that sector since 2014.
Answered by Claire Perry
The current pot structure has been more than adequate in enabling the competition that has driven down clearing prices in Contract for Difference allocations.