Asked by: Robert Halfon (Conservative - Harlow)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, whether his Department plans to help support glasshouse growers to heat their greenhouses in the context of the transition from fossil fuels to renewable energy.
Answered by Mark Spencer - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
HM Government Food Strategy published in June this year acknowledges the important role of industrial horticulture, including the contribution of glasshouse crop production in ensuring a reliable and sustainable supply of fresh produce throughout the year. Growth of this sector would boost home-grown fruit and vegetable production, help future-proof the sector in a warming climate and create new skilled job opportunities.
HM Government Food Strategy explains that industrial horticulture will be considered alongside other manufacturing sectors in decisions on industrial energy policy and that we will also incentivise the sector to make use of surplus heat and CO2 from industrial processes, and renewable sources of energy. HM Government is developing a Horticulture Strategy for England which will explore how controlled environment horticulture can be supported.
In recognition of significant increases in energy costs, we have recently announced that businesses, charities and public sector organisations will be protected through HM Government’s Energy Bill Relief Scheme from October over the next six months. This support discounts price per unit of gas and electricity, meaning businesses and others will pay wholesale energy costs well below half of expected prices this winter.
Asked by: Viscount Waverley (Crossbench - Excepted Hereditary)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask Her Majesty's Government how they plan to secure Sustainable Aviation Fuel (SAF) development in the UK.
Answered by Baroness Vere of Norbiton - Parliamentary Secretary (HM Treasury)
Sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) will have a key role in driving down carbon emissions in the UK aviation sector and the Government is fully committed to accelerating its development. The UK Government’s SAF programme is already one of the most comprehensive in the world. This includes £62m of previous funding made available to support the early development of SAF revenue support under the Renewable Transport Fuel Obligation, and the development of a SAF clearing house for fuel testing and certification. On top of this, last year the Government announced a £400m partnership with Breakthrough Energy Catalyst, which will allow SAF projects to apply for further capital funding.
Last week the Government announced that it will introduce a SAF mandate. By prescribing mandatory SAF use, we will generate secure and growing UK SAF demand. The SAF mandate will require at least 10% (c1.5bn litres) of fuel to be made from sustainable sources from 2030.
Alongside this announcement, the Government launched the £165 million Advanced Fuels Fund to drive our new commitment to have at least five commercial SAF plants under construction in the UK by 2025. Building on the success of the previous competitions, the grant funding will support projects looking to develop large scale advanced fuel production facilities in the UK.
The Government also continues to work in partnership with industry and investors to build long term supply. We’re actively looking at how to create the long-term conditions for investable projects in the UK, by demonstrating technology that works at scale, ensuring demand via the mandate, looking at an overarching strategy for sustainable feedstocks and sources and considering what further measures might be needed, from both industry and government.
Asked by: Ruth Jones (Labour - Newport West)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, whether she is taking steps to address the impact of rising temperatures and air pollution on maternal health in Nigeria.
Answered by Vicky Ford
Climate change and exposure to air pollution, caused through the effects of desertification, excessive deforestation, poor public waste management and bush burning, are major health risks for the population of Nigeria. Within this context, a robust and sustainable health system is crucial to provide access to essential healthcare, including lifesaving maternal and child health services.
As part of our Presidency of COP26, the UK developed and is delivering the COP26 Health Programme, which aims to enable transformational change in health systems globally that protects both people and the planet. Under this programme, Nigeria made an ambitious commitment to build a climate-resilient and low-carbon sustainable health system. This includes a plan to achieve net carbon zero and to minimise human exposure to air pollution by 2035. Through our core voluntary contribution to the World Health Organization and The Global Fund, the UK is now supporting Nigeria's Ministry of Health to design and develop a climate resilient health strategy that includes management of medical waste and use of renewable energy at primary health care facilities for maternal and newborn services.
Asked by: Dan Carden (Labour - Liverpool, Walton)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, whether her Department is taking steps to help support public swimming pools transition to renewable energy.
Answered by Nigel Huddleston - Financial Secretary (HM Treasury)
We recognise the importance of ensuring public access to leisure facilities, including swimming pools, which are great spaces for people of all ages to stay fit and healthy. We are committed to supporting these facilities to transition to renewable energy sources.
The Public Sector Decarbonisation Scheme provides grants for public sector bodies to fund heat decarbonisation and energy efficiency measures. The scheme supports the aim of reducing emissions from public sector buildings by 75% by 2037, as set out in the Heat and Buildings Strategy and the Net Zero Strategy in October 2021.
Leisure centres are eligible for the Public Sector Decarbonisation Scheme. For example last year, during Phase 3a, Calderdale Metropolitan Borough Council was awarded £1,728,500 to decarbonise the swimming pool at Todmorden Sports Centre.
The next application window to the scheme, Phase 3b, is planned to open in September, with the guidance published beforehand.
Sport England are also able to provide guidance on sustainable design formats for leisure centres. The recent redevelopment of St Sidwell's Point Leisure Centre in Exeter provides one such example.
Asked by: Geraint Davies (Independent - Swansea West)
Question to the Wales Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Wales, if he will hold discussions with the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities on making Wales an international leader in building (a) sustainable, (b) net-zero and (c) hempcrete buildings and homes.
Answered by David T C Davies - Secretary of State for Wales
Although housing is devolved in Wales, officials in the Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities have regular discussions with counterparts in the devolved administrations, including the Welsh Government to discuss modern methods of construction.
Furthermore, as part of the Swansea Bay City Deal, the UK Government is supporting the ‘Homes as Power Stations’ project, a pioneering project looking to integrate energy efficiency design and renewable technologies into the development of new build homes and retrofit programmes carried out by the public, private and third sectors. This will tackle fuel poverty while helping residents save money on their energy bills. The project aims to facilitate the take up of renewable technologies in at least 10,300 properties within five years.
Asked by: Lyn Brown (Labour - West Ham)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what assessment has made of the potential impact of accession to the Energy Charter Treaty by African states on the ability of those states to (a) transition to renewable energy and (b) meet the UN Sustainable Development Goals.
Answered by Amanda Milling - Government Whip, Lord Commissioner of HM Treasury
In considering any requests for accession to the Energy Charter Treaty, the UK Government will aim to ensure that the policies of those accession states are aligned with the priorities of the modernised Treaty, including the Sustainable Development Goals, UNFCCC and Paris Agreement. We would encourage African nations to look at the opportunities Treaty membership offers to support the clean energy transition.
Asked by: Rachael Maskell (Labour (Co-op) - York Central)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, if he will make an assessment of the potential merits of taking steps through local planning to ensure that land approved to generate sustainable energy is used to power new build developments including (a) garden villages and (b) towns.
Answered by Stuart Andrew - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Culture, Media and Sport)
The Government has made steps to ensure land approved to generate sustainable energy is used to power new build developments. National planning policy is clear that strategic policies in Local Plans should make sufficient provision for energy infrastructure (including heat). In particular, the planning system should support renewable and low carbon energy and associated infrastructure and plans should provide a positive strategy for energy from these sources, and identify opportunities for development to draw its energy supply from decentralised, renewable or low carbon energy systems.
The Government's recent 'British Energy Security Strategy' sets out a series of changes to the planning system to support the delivery of renewable energy infrastructure. This included a commitment to cut the time it takes for offshore wind projects to get planning and regulatory consents. For onshore wind, we will consult this year on developing local partnerships for supportive communities who wish to host new onshore wind infrastructure in return for benefits, including lower energy bills. We will also consult on amending planning rules to strengthen policy in favour of solar development, while ensuring communities continue to have a say and environmental protections remain in place. As part of this we will gather evidence on the use and suitability of the existing permitted development rights which allow for the installation of solar equipment.
Asked by: Fabian Hamilton (Labour - Leeds North East)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what steps he is taking to transition the UK energy sector to sustainable energy sources, such as wind, tidal or hydro, following sanctions on the Russian Government.
Answered by Greg Hands - Minister of State (Department for Business and Trade)
The Contracts for Difference (CfD) scheme is the Government’s flagship scheme for supporting new low-carbon electricity generation projects in Great Britain. The latest auction is underway and aims to secure more low-carbon electricity capacity than the previous three rounds combined, supporting an expanded number of renewable technologies, including offshore wind, onshore wind, solar, tidal stream and floating offshore wind. In February, the Government also announced that the next CfD allocation round will be brought forward to March 2023, and future rounds will run annually, rather than every two years, thereafter. These steps will help drive forward the deployment of renewable power.
Asked by: Steve Baker (Conservative - Wycombe)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, with reference to the report titled Auctions for allocation of offshore wind contracts for difference in the UK, published in February 2019, what assessment he has made of the implications for his policies of the finding by Oxford Institute for Energy Studies that auction strike prices are unlikely to be indicative of underlying costs for renewable generators.
Answered by Greg Hands - Minister of State (Department for Business and Trade)
The Contracts for Difference (CfD) scheme operates as a competitive auction where the strike price successful participants receive is based on the clearing price, which is a product of bid prices. It is for developers to consider a bid price that is sustainable for their project, based on their own, forward-looking assessment of their likely project costs and revenues, and projects are only paid for the electricity they generate.
The Department publishes its own view of future electricity generation costs by technology – the latest version is from 2020, and is available here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/beis-electricity-generation-costs-2020.
Asked by: Lisa Cameron (Conservative - East Kilbride, Strathaven and Lesmahagow)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what steps he is taking to reduce energy costs for consumers across the UK.
Answered by Greg Hands - Minister of State (Department for Business and Trade)
On 3 February, my Rt. Hon. Friend Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer announced a package of support worth £9.1 billion to help domestic energy customers with the costs of rising energy bills. This includes a £150 non-repayable Council Tax rebate in April 2022 to all households in Council Tax Bands A-D, and £144 million of discretionary funding for local authorities to support those not eligible for the Council Tax rebate.
To spread the cost of this year’s energy price shock over time, from October 2022 the Government will provide funding to all energy suppliers for them to pass a £200 reduction on to domestic electricity customers’ bills. This will be recouped through energy bills over five years from 2023.
Our exposure to volatile global gas prices underscores the importance of the Government’s plan to build a strong, home-grown renewable energy sector to further reduce our reliance on fossil fuels.
Improving the energy efficiency of homes is the most effective way of permanently reducing the energy bills by reducing the amount of energy required to heat the home. It can also tackle fuel poverty in the long term. There are a number of schemes specifically targeting low income and fuel poor households to enable them to improve their energy efficiency including the Energy Company Obligation (‘ECO’) and Sustainable Warmth.