Asked by: Earl of Shrewsbury (Conservative - Excepted Hereditary)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the potential of combined heat and power systems; both as an alternative to gas and in relation to climate change targets.
Answered by Lord Callanan - Shadow Minister (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
In 2020, CHP represented 7.7% of the UK’s total electricity generation and 8.5% of gas demand. Approximately 85% of fuel used in CHPs in 2020 was fossil fuel (72% of which was natural gas). CHP plants are used by a wide variety of sectors, in particular chemicals, food and drink, paper and refining industries. CHPs are also used in large commercial and civic buildings with high heat demands, such as hospitals, hospitality and leisure facilities, retail outlets and heat networks.
The Government recognises the benefits CHP can bring, such as primary energy savings associated with making use of the heat from power generation compared to separate heat and power generation, and grid stability.
The Government continues to develop policies to support the decarbonisation of CHP in the future and is reviewing the potential role for CHP using various fuel sources going forward. As part of this review, we have published a call for evidence on CHP: Pathway to Decarbonisation that closes on 20 December 2021. In the Heat and Buildings Strategy, Government proposed to regularly review the contributions of different technologies.
As outlined in the Hydrogen Strategy, analysis indicates that boilers and CHP installations could make up around two thirds of demand for hydrogen fuel switching by 2030 in industrial sectors.
Asked by: Earl of Shrewsbury (Conservative - Excepted Hereditary)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask Her Majesty's Government why they removed combined heat and power from the second phase of the Public Sector Decarbonisation Scheme.
Answered by Lord Callanan - Shadow Minister (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
The Government is committed to achieving net zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2050. On the path to net zero, the Net Zero Strategy and the Heat and Buildings Strategy committed to an aim of reducing emissions from public sector buildings by 75% by 2037. We are clear that the continued use of fossil fuels for heating is not compatible with that ambition.
In order to help meet this ambitious emissions reduction target, the Public Sector Decarbonisation Scheme has a strong focus on reducing on-site emissions in public sector buildings. It is a scheme requirement that all funded projects remove a fossil fuel heating system and replace this with a low carbon heating system. This means that grant funding cannot be used to purchase any heating technology that runs on fossil fuels, including gas and oil Combined Heat and Power units.
Asked by: Earl of Shrewsbury (Conservative - Excepted Hereditary)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what plans they have to fund combined heat and power projects for public bodies, such as the NHS; and whether any such funds would be made available via government agencies, such as Salix Finance.
Answered by Lord Callanan - Shadow Minister (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
The Government is committed to achieving net zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2050. On the path to net zero, the Net Zero Strategy and the Heat and Buildings Strategy committed to an aim of reducing emissions from public sector buildings by 75% by 2037. We are clear that the continued use of fossil fuels for energy is not compatible with that ambition.
Combined heat and power installations can encompass a range of different generation technologies and are fueled by fossil fuels or renewable sources such as biomass. Whilst those that operate using fossil fuels are not supported under the Public Sector Decarbonisation Scheme, there are a number of existing support mechanisms in place for CHP that meets defined efficiency thresholds, including environmental tax exemptions such as the Climate Change Levy. The Government continues to look to develop policies to support the decarbonisation of combined heat and power in the future and there is currently a live Call for Evidence on the pathway to decarbonisation for CHP that runs to 20 December 2021.
Asked by: Earl of Shrewsbury (Conservative - Excepted Hereditary)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what steps they are taking to increase manufacturing jobs in the UK hydrogen market.
Answered by Lord Callanan - Shadow Minister (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
My Rt hon Friend the Prime Minister’s Ten Point Plan for a Green Industrial Revolution will mobilise £12 billion of government investment to unlock three times as much private sector investment by 2030. The Ten Point Plan and Energy White Paper both set out that the Government, working with industry, aims to have 5GW of low carbon hydrogen production capacity in the UK by 2030.
The Government will publish a dedicated Hydrogen Strategy in the first half of this year. This will offer more detail on how we will work with industry to meet the 2030 ambition.
Driving the growth of low carbon hydrogen could deliver support for up to 8,000 jobs by 2030, potentially unlocking up to 100,000 domestic and export jobs by 2050 in a high hydrogen scenario.
To ensure we have the skilled workforce to deliver net zero, including our commitments on hydrogen, the government has launched the Green Jobs Taskforce, working in partnership with business, skills providers and unions, to help develop plans for new long-term good quality, green jobs by 2030.
Asked by: Earl of Shrewsbury (Conservative - Excepted Hereditary)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what steps they are taking to incentivise private investment in the UK hydrogen market.
Answered by Lord Callanan - Shadow Minister (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
We recognise the importance that government ambition, coupled with a supportive policy framework, has had in building investor confidence in the development of low carbon technologies in the UK.
My Rt hon Friend the Prime Minister’s Ten Point Plan for a Green Industrial Revolution will mobilise £12 billion of government investment to unlock three times as much private sector investment by 2030.
The Ten Point Plan and Energy White Paper both set out that the Government, working with industry, aims to have 5GW of low carbon hydrogen production capacity in the UK by 2030.
In support of this we have announced a £240m Net Zero Hydrogen Fund for co-investment in new low carbon hydrogen production, to bring forward a combination of CCUS-enabled ‘blue’ hydrogen and electrolytic ‘green’ hydrogen projects. This year, we are bringing forward detail on hydrogen business models and the revenue mechanism, to stimulate private investment in new low carbon hydrogen production facilities.
The Government will publish a dedicated Hydrogen Strategy in the first half of this year. This will offer more detail on how we will work with industry to meet the 2030 ambition.