Asked by: Sarah Olney (Liberal Democrat - Richmond Park)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, pursuant to his answer of 25 November 2021 to question 75086, what steps he plans to take to make a comparative assessment of the effect of burning (a) wood pellets and (b) coal at the Drax power station on achieving net zero in the absence of information on the carbon transport costs of either process.
Answered by Greg Hands - Minister of State (Department for Business and Trade)
The Renewables Obligation Order (RO) and Contracts for Difference (CfD) sustainability criteria require that electricity generation from biomass does not exceed a set greenhouse gas threshold and produces life-cycle emission savings:
https://www.ofgem.gov.uk/publications/renewables-obligation-sustainability-criteria.
Asked by: Sarah Olney (Liberal Democrat - Richmond Park)
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 9 March 2022 to Question 134378 on Nuclear Weapons: Russia, when the Government plans to publish an update on UKRI funding to research projects with Russian collaboration.
Answered by George Freeman
I refer the Hon. Member to the answer I gave her on 9 March 2022 to Question 134378.
Asked by: Sarah Olney (Liberal Democrat - Richmond Park)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, if the Department will publish the businesses that received loans under the (a) Covid Business Interruption Loans Scheme, (b) Covid Large Business Interruption Loan Scheme and (c) Bounce Back Loan Scheme.
Answered by Paul Scully
Some information about loans accessed through the Government’s Covid-19 loan guarantee schemes are made available on the European Commission State Aid Transparency Database and the UK Subsidy Transparency Database, where required to ensure compliance with EU and international law.
Asked by: Sarah Olney (Liberal Democrat - Richmond Park)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what legal restrictions there are on his Department in publishing the businesses that received loans under the (a) Covid Business Interruption Loans Scheme, (b) Covid Large Business Interruption Loan Scheme and (c) Bounce Back Loan Scheme.
Answered by Paul Scully
Some information about loans accessed through the Government’s Covid-19 loan guarantee schemes are made available on the European Commission State Aid Transparency Database and the UK Subsidy Transparency Database, where required to ensure compliance with EU and international law.
A variety of complex legal, contractual and commercial considerations apply in relation to any additional release of loan recipient data.
Asked by: Sarah Olney (Liberal Democrat - Richmond Park)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what information his Department holds on which private sector companies are using large scale bioenergy with carbon capture and storage to reduce their carbon footprint.
Answered by Greg Hands - Minister of State (Department for Business and Trade)
We are not aware of any private sector companies using large scale bioenergy with carbon capture and storage.
Asked by: Sarah Olney (Liberal Democrat - Richmond Park)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, whether any trees burnt in UK power stations since 2003 were sourced from the UK.
Answered by Greg Hands - Minister of State (Department for Business and Trade)
Ofgem publishes data relating to UK derived biomass on its website which can be accessed here: https://www.ofgem.gov.uk/publications/biomass-sustainability-dataset-2019-20.
Asked by: Sarah Olney (Liberal Democrat - Richmond Park)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what the total value of loans issued to businesses with premises or registered interests in the Russian Federation was under the (a) Covid Business Interruption Loans Scheme, (b) Covid Large Business Interruption Loan Scheme and (c) Bounce Back Loan Scheme.
Answered by Paul Scully
In order to be eligible for the Coronavirus Business Interruption Loan Scheme, the Coronavirus Large Business Interruption Loan Scheme or the Bounce Back Loan Scheme, a business was required to be trading in the United Kingdom. We do not hold data on whether recipients of the schemes have premises or registered interests in the Russian Federation.
Asked by: Sarah Olney (Liberal Democrat - Richmond Park)
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 impact of OneWeb’s decision to suspend all satellite launches from Baikonur on the (a) planned timetable for launches and (b) market value of that company.
Answered by George Freeman
OneWeb is currently assessing options for alternative launches. The Government is working closely with other shareholders to discuss next steps.
Asked by: Sarah Olney (Liberal Democrat - Richmond Park)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what recent discussions his Department has had with representatives of OneWeb on the decision to suspend all satellite launches from Baikonur.
Answered by George Freeman
OneWeb is currently assessing options for alternative launches. The Government is working closely with other shareholders to discuss next steps.