Asked by: Lord Mendelsohn (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what plans they have to support the Crypto Climate Accord initiative ahead of COP26; and what steps they plan to take to build support among the UK (1) crypto, and (2) fintech, industries for the cryptocurrency sector to be powered by 100 per cent renewable energy sources.
Answered by Lord Agnew of Oulton
The Government’s private finance objective for the upcoming COP26 climate change forum is to ensure that every professional financial decision takes climate change into account. The recovery from COVID-19 will determine the mitigation and adaptation pathways for decades to come.
The finance campaign will provide the conditions for a future that is genuinely greener, more resilient and more sustainable than the past. Action on finance underpins all the other COP campaigns: adaptation and resilience, energy transition, nature and zero-emission vehicles. Without the right levels of finance, the rest is not possible.
The Government has already taken action to ensure the UK is the world-leading centre for green finance including through announcing an intention to make disclosures aligned with the Taskforce on Climate-related Financial Disclosures (TCFD) fully mandatory across the economy by 2025, making the UK the first country to do so.
Additionally, the Government has committed to the implementation of a green taxonomy. This will allow us to accelerate our work towards a greener financial sector, by providing a common definition for environmentally sustainable economy activities.
The Cryptoasset Taskforce, comprising HM Treasury, the Financial Conduct Authority, and the Bank of England, considers the impact of cryptoassets and assesses what, if any, regulation is required in response. The Government has been monitoring developments within the cryptoasset industry, including rising energy usage.
The Government is committed to upholding its pledge relating to the Paris Climate Agreement and have enacted a legally binding target to reach net zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2050. Between 1990 and 2018, the UK reduced its emissions by 43% while growing the economy by 75% – the best performance in the G7 on a per person basis and will continually assess any emerging environmental threats.
Asked by: Jim Shannon (Democratic Unionist Party - Strangford)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, whether his Department has plans to amend the definition of non-road mobile machinery in the Energy Act 2004 to limit the eligibility of biofuel suppliers that claim Renewable Transport Fuel Certificates on biofuel supplied to diesel powered generating sets for the purpose of increasing the availability of renewable fuels for use by the UK aviation sector.
Answered by Rachel Maclean
Under the Renewable Transport Fuel Obligation (RTFO) renewable fuel used in mobile generators is eligible for Renewable Transport Fuel Certificates (RTFCs). Suppliers of fossil fuel used in mobile generators and other forms of non-road mobile machinery are also subject to an obligation to ensure renewable fuels are supplied in the UK. Suppliers of fossil fuels used in aviation are not currently obligated under the RTFO, but renewable fuels used in the sector are potentially eligible for RTFCs. The Department has no plans to limit the supply of renewable fuel to mobile generators for the purposes of increasing the availability of renewable fuels in the aviation sector.
In July the Department launched a consultation on proposals for a UK sustainable aviation fuels (SAF) mandate requiring jet fuel suppliers to blend an increasing proportion of SAF into aviation fuel from 2025. The consultation closes on 19 September. The modelling supporting the consultation has taken into consideration the interactions between fuels needed for road, non-road mobile machinery and aviation, and the availability of sustainable feedstocks and renewable fuels. A summary of responses including next steps will be published in due course and the modelling will be updated considering evidence from the consultation.
Policy development on the RTFO takes into account competing demands for renewable fuel resources across different transport sectors. It is also informed by regular reviews to ensure the scheme is delivering cost effective carbon savings in support of UK carbon budgets. It is widely understood that the availability of biomass used to produce biofuels is limited. So, these finite resources need to be deployed in sectors of the economy where greater greenhouse gas savings can be achieved, or sectors that have fewer decarbonisation options, such as aviation. The renewable fuel market will transform and adjust through this decade and beyond. As we transition to electric vehicles, some biomass and other sources of renewable fuel will be freed up to accommodate increased use in SAF.
Biofuels are traded in a competitive global market and the RTFO certificate trading scheme includes several measures to ensure costs passed on to the consumer are minimised and targets for the supply of renewable fuels are met. For example, the RTFO scheme includes a buy-out mechanism. The buy-out price, which was reviewed and updated last year, is set at a level which ensures that in normal market conditions there is a strong commercial incentive for suppliers to discharge their obligation through the supply of renewable fuels. Suppliers of fossil fuels to the non-road mobile machinery and diesel road vehicle sectors therefore have a strong incentive to meet their obligations under the RTFO through ensuring the supply of renewable fuels.
There are no direct benefits to the UK public of improved air quality in international airspace, defined as airspace which is outside of the standard state territorial limits. Studies have shown that NOx emissions from aircraft above 1,000 feet are unlikely to have a significant impact on local air quality. However, on top of the carbon emissions reductions and economic benefits associated with SAF use and production, there is growing evidence that SAF also reduces sulphur dioxide and particulate matter emissions. Thereby improving local air quality during take-off and landing, as well as other non-CO2 impacts of aeroplanes, including contrails.
Asked by: Barry Sheerman (Labour (Co-op) - Huddersfield)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps he is taking to engage with environmental charities and industry leaders to ensure that hospitals and other NHS facilities become more sustainable.
Answered by Edward Argar - Minister of State (Ministry of Justice)
‘Delivering a ‘Net Zero’ National Health Service’, published in October 2020, sets out that National Health Service organisations should be powered by more sustainable forms of energy. The NHS has started this transition by asking all its hospitals to switch over to 100% purchased renewable energy.
NHS England and NHS Improvement and NHS trusts engage extensively with a variety of environmental charities and environmental leaders, industry and professional bodies to deliver the interventions set out in ‘Delivering a ‘Net Zero’ National Health Service’.
Asked by: Barry Sheerman (Labour (Co-op) - Huddersfield)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps he is taking to ensure that NHS facilities are transitioning to be powered by more sustainable forms of energy.
Answered by Edward Argar - Minister of State (Ministry of Justice)
‘Delivering a ‘Net Zero’ National Health Service’, published in October 2020, sets out that National Health Service organisations should be powered by more sustainable forms of energy. The NHS has started this transition by asking all its hospitals to switch over to 100% purchased renewable energy.
NHS England and NHS Improvement and NHS trusts engage extensively with a variety of environmental charities and environmental leaders, industry and professional bodies to deliver the interventions set out in ‘Delivering a ‘Net Zero’ National Health Service’.
Asked by: John Redwood (Conservative - Wokingham)
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 promote ethanol production in the UK.
Answered by Nadhim Zahawi
The UK biofuel market, including bioethanol, has been supported since 2008 through the Renewable Transport Fuel Obligation (RTFO). The RTFO is a certificate trading scheme which sets targets and provides financial incentives for the supply of sustainable biofuels. This month the government has introduced E10 as the standard petrol across Great Britain. The introduction of E10 increases the amount of bioethanol blended with petrol sold at forecourts in the UK. E10’s introduction has been welcomed by the UK bioethanol industry as positive for the environment and jobs in UK production plants and supply chain.
More broadly, the chemicals sector is crucial to the UK; with 83% of employment outside of London and the South East it provides high-skilled, highly paid jobs across the UK and supplies essential inputs to almost all other manufacturing industries.
Last year's UK Budget sets out our ambition to spread opportunity across the UK, led by vital investment, to help important businesses such as chemical companies to grow, and improve access to skills, capital and ideas. This ambition is being supported by measures such as the new two-year super-deduction that will cut companies’ tax bill by 25p for every pound they invest in new equipment and mean they can reduce their taxable profits by 130% of the cost. In addition, the Government has a target for total R&D investment to reach 2.4% of GDP by 2027 and in the recent Innovation strategy we have committed to increase our annual public investment in R&D to a record £22billion.
Asked by: Zarah Sultana (Labour - Coventry South)
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 potential merits of reallocating Government subsidies for biomass energy to other renewable energy sources.
Answered by Anne-Marie Trevelyan - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
The Government follows scientific advice which indicates that sustainable biomass could play a role in decarbonising the energy sector as part of a diverse renewable energy mix and in achieving net zero. Recent reports from the International Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), the Climate Change Committee (CCC) and the International Energy Agency (IEA) all support this view.
We have no plans to remove support for electricity generation from biomass prior to 2027 for generators that are already supported under the Renewables Obligation (RO) and the Contract for Difference (CfD).
Asked by: Zarah Sultana (Labour - Coventry South)
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 potential impact of biomass energy on (a) CO2 emissions and (b) animal biodiversity.
Answered by Anne-Marie Trevelyan - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
The Government follows scientific advice which indicates that sustainable biomass could play a role in decarbonising the energy sector as part of a diverse renewable energy mix and in achieving net zero. Recent reports from the International Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), the Climate Change Committee (CCC) and the International Energy Agency (IEA) all support this view.
The UK only supports biomass which complies with strict sustainability criteria which considers a range of environmental issues including protecting the biodiversity of forests from which the biomass is sourced, irrespective of its location.
Asked by: Peter Aldous (Conservative - Waveney)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what assessment he has made of the potential role of nuclear energy in producing hydrogen over the next five years to support the introduction of hydrogen for vehicles, maritime and aviation.
Answered by Rachel Maclean
Officials from the Department for Transport and the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy are in regular contact on the development of our green hydrogen policies. This includes engagement to better understand the merits of any support for hydrogen production using nuclear energy.
The Renewable Transport Fuel Obligation (RTFO) has reduced carbon emissions from UK transport fuels by of 275 mega tonnes from 2008 to 2020 through supporting the use of renewable fuels. There have been no recent ministerial discussions to expand the RTFO to cover nuclear derived fuels. Any decision on extension of the RTFO to support fuels derived from nuclear energy would need to be carefully considered because this could divert nuclear energy from the electricity grid where it plays a valuable role in providing low carbon energy.
We will set out a plan for the path to zero carbon shipping in 2022. The Sustainable Aviation Fuel (SAF) consultation launched on 23rd July this year seeks to explore the suitability of nuclear energy for producing SAF.
Any proposals would be the subject of a public consultation, published economic analysis and require primary and secondary legislation.
Asked by: Peter Aldous (Conservative - Waveney)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, when he plans to make a decision on the potential extension of the Renewable Transport Fuel Obligation to cover hydrogen produced from nuclear energy.
Answered by Rachel Maclean
Officials from the Department for Transport and the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy are in regular contact on the development of our green hydrogen policies. This includes engagement to better understand the merits of any support for hydrogen production using nuclear energy.
The Renewable Transport Fuel Obligation (RTFO) has reduced carbon emissions from UK transport fuels by of 275 mega tonnes from 2008 to 2020 through supporting the use of renewable fuels. There have been no recent ministerial discussions to expand the RTFO to cover nuclear derived fuels. Any decision on extension of the RTFO to support fuels derived from nuclear energy would need to be carefully considered because this could divert nuclear energy from the electricity grid where it plays a valuable role in providing low carbon energy.
We will set out a plan for the path to zero carbon shipping in 2022. The Sustainable Aviation Fuel (SAF) consultation launched on 23rd July this year seeks to explore the suitability of nuclear energy for producing SAF.
Any proposals would be the subject of a public consultation, published economic analysis and require primary and secondary legislation.
Asked by: Peter Aldous (Conservative - Waveney)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what discussions he has had with the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy on the potential merits of extending the Renewable Transport Fuel Obligation to cover hydrogen produced from nuclear energy.
Answered by Rachel Maclean
Officials from the Department for Transport and the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy are in regular contact on the development of our green hydrogen policies. This includes engagement to better understand the merits of any support for hydrogen production using nuclear energy.
The Renewable Transport Fuel Obligation (RTFO) has reduced carbon emissions from UK transport fuels by of 275 mega tonnes from 2008 to 2020 through supporting the use of renewable fuels. There have been no recent ministerial discussions to expand the RTFO to cover nuclear derived fuels. Any decision on extension of the RTFO to support fuels derived from nuclear energy would need to be carefully considered because this could divert nuclear energy from the electricity grid where it plays a valuable role in providing low carbon energy.
We will set out a plan for the path to zero carbon shipping in 2022. The Sustainable Aviation Fuel (SAF) consultation launched on 23rd July this year seeks to explore the suitability of nuclear energy for producing SAF.
Any proposals would be the subject of a public consultation, published economic analysis and require primary and secondary legislation.