Oct. 05 2023
Source Page: Emissions scheme to reduce sale of carbon allowances on path to net zeroFound: Emissions scheme to reduce sale of carbon allowances on path to net zero
Asked by: Simon Lightwood (Labour (Co-op) - Wakefield)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, how many zero-emission buses have been allocated funding under the Zero Emission Bus Regional Areas scheme 1 as of 15 April 2024; and how many and what proportion of those buses (a) have been ordered and (b) are on the road as of that date.
Answered by Guy Opperman - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
The Government provided £270 million to Local Transport Authorities under the ZEBRA 1 programme. This funded 1,314 buses,1,053 have been ordered of which 313 are already on our roads across England.
More recently, the Government announced ZEBRA 2, with a further £142.8 million to Local Transport Authorities. This will help LTAs to purchase more zero emission buses, going further in our commitment to reduce carbon emissions in the transport sector whilst improving service quality for users.
Asked by: Tulip Siddiq (Labour - Hampstead and Kilburn)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what steps his Department is taking to reduce emissions produced by the armed forces.
Answered by James Cartlidge - Minister of State (Ministry of Defence)
MOD is committed to reducing its carbon emissions and fully contributing to the UK achieving its legal commitment to be Net Zero by 2050.
Work is underway across the MOD and Defence is beginning to drive real change; from innovation on future fuels through to embedding energy efficient measures in our bases. Underpinning all this work is the need to ensure national security and preserve our capability levels.
The Department's current progress on reducing emissions has been published in Annex D of MOD's Annual Report and Accounts 2022-23 (publishing.service.gov.uk).
Asked by: Matthew Offord (Conservative - Hendon)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what targets his Department has set to help achieve the Government's commitments on net zero.
Answered by Mike Freer - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Justice)
The Government set out how we would meet our commitments in the Net Zero Strategy in 2021 which included a detailed breakdown of actions required across all sectors in the economy. This was updated in 2023 through the publication of 'Powering Up Britain'.
The UK has halved its emissions, ahead of every other major economy, and we have grown our economy by over 70% since 1990. The UK over-achieved against the first and second carbon budgets, and the latest projections show that we are on track to meet the third.
We have one of the most ambitious decarbonisation targets in the world, and we have set more stretching targets for 2030 than most countries. We plan to cut emissions by 68% by 2030, which is more than the EU, Japan or the United States. The Ministry of Justice continues to support Government’s commitment to achieve Net Zero by 2050 or sooner and we have already reduced our total carbon emissions by 28% to March 2023 (against a 2017-18 baseline).
Asked by: Jim Shannon (Democratic Unionist Party - Strangford)
Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:
To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, what progress she has made on (a) meeting net zero targets and (b) reducing energy costs.
Answered by Graham Stuart
The UK over-achieved against the first and second carbon budgets, and the latest projections show that it is on track to meet the third. The UK has halved its emissions, ahead of every other major economy.
The transitions set out in the Net Zero Strategy for every sector of the UK economy keep it on track for Carbon Budgets 4, 5 and 6, the 2030 Nationally Determined Contribution, and net zero by 2050.
A main driver of energy costs for consumers are movements in international gas prices. Prices have come down continually over the last 12 months, and the Default Tariff Cap is currently £1,928, which is less than half the level of this time last year when it reached £4,279 at the peak of the energy crisis. The Government is developing more home-grown sources of energy supply – including renewables – to reduce exposure to volatile international markets which, along with energy efficiency support for consumers, will help reduce energy costs.
Asked by: Karl Turner (Labour - Kingston upon Hull East)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, when he last met representatives of the shipping industry to discuss the operation of Emissions Trading Schemes in the maritime sector.
Answered by Guy Opperman - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
The expansion of the UK Emissions Trading Scheme (ETS) to domestic maritime is currently planned from 2026. Officials across the UK ETS Authority have been regularly engaging across the maritime sector ahead of the next consultation on expansion of the UK ETS to domestic maritime. My officials met with industry bodies as recently as three weeks ago, and will continue to do so both ahead of, and following, the publication of the next consultation on the expansion of the UK ETS.
The EU ETS meanwhile will apply to all cargo and passenger vessels over 5000GT operating within the European Economic Area (EEA) and internationally to the EEA from 1 Jan 2024.
We have no plans to make a full assessment of this EU ETS scheme, it will impact all nations going to the EEA equally. The amount of in-scope emissions that allowances must be surrendered will increase from 40% in 2024, increasing to 70% in 2025, and 100% in 2026. The EU ETS will initially cover carbon dioxide emissions and be widened to include methane and nitrous oxide from 2026.
We will continue to monitor developments of international and regional carbon pricing instruments covering shipping schemes, including the EU ETS proposal, and consider how these might interact with our domestic policy in the future. This will be applied equally to all operators travelling internationally to the EEA. The EU ETS is not expected to have any organizational impact on the MCA.
Asked by: Kenny MacAskill (Alba Party - East Lothian)
Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:
To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, what the estimated carbon emissions are from the import and export of oil in the UK.
Answered by Amanda Solloway - Government Whip, Lord Commissioner of HM Treasury
I refer the Hon. Member to the answer I gave on 23 January to Question UIN 10547
Asked by: Ian Byrne (Labour - Liverpool, West Derby)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, when he expects the Food Data Transparency Partnership Eco Working Group to produce its report detailing proposals to measure and communicate carbon emissions in the food system.
Answered by Mark Spencer - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
The Food Data Transparency Partnership (FDTP) was established in early 2023, as a means to work jointly across Defra, the Food Standards Agency, the Department of Health and Social Care, industry, academia and civil society. The FDTP aims to drive positive change in the food system through better and more transparent food data. On environmental sustainability, the FDTP has focused on the approach needed to deliver consistent, accurate and accessible data on quantifying and communicating the environmental impact of food across the agri-food system. This will support our agri-food industry to remain internationally competitive in the context of global growing demand for data on environmental impacts associated with products or services sold.
The FDTP Eco Working Group continues to develop the detail of proposals to measure and communicate greenhouse gas emissions in the food system. The group has identified several interim priorities for the short and medium term. These will be communicated to industry as part of the FDTP's continued programme of engagement.
Asked by: Pauline Latham (Conservative - Mid Derbyshire)
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 estimate of the lifecycle carbon emissions per MWh for generating electricity by (a) burning (i) wood, (ii) coal and (iii) gas and (d) using nuclear energy.
Answered by Amanda Solloway - Government Whip, Lord Commissioner of HM Treasury
The lifecycle emissions of individual plants depend strongly upon the efficiency of generation, supply chains, production techniques, agricultural practices, and transport distances. Typical values in CO2 equivalents for the UK are Wood: 96 kg/MWh, Coal: 968 kg/MWh, Natural gas: 411 kg/MWh and Nuclear: 12 kg/MWh.
Asked by: Kerry McCarthy (Labour - Bristol East)
Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:
To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, when she plans to publish a response to the consultation on Introducing a performance-based policy framework in large commercial and industrial buildings, which closed on 9 June 2021.
Answered by Amanda Solloway - Government Whip, Lord Commissioner of HM Treasury
Government paused the rollout of the operational energy rating pilot scheme but remains interested in exploring the role that operational ratings can play in supporting energy reduction within the wider landscape for decarbonising commercial and industrial buildings.
We continue to engage with stakeholders to understand more about potential options for moving the dial on reducing carbon emissions and Government’s role in this.