Asked by: Lord Lucas (Conservative - Excepted Hereditary)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask His Majesty's Government, further the publication of Updated energy and emissions projections 2021 to 2040 on 18 October, what are the projected (1) sources of, and (2) uses for, electrical energy in 2024 (a) on average, and (b) on a cold winter evening with no wind; and what are the uses to which gas is being put in 2040.
Answered by Lord Callanan - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
Annex J of BEIS Energy and Emissions Projections 2021-2040 provides a breakdown of electricity supply by source. The breakdown for 2024 is shown overleaf. More detailed breakdowns by use, time of day or weather pattern are not available for electricity supply, electricity consumption or gas consumption.
Total electricity generation by source 2024 (EEP 2021-2040 reference case)
Source | Electricity supplied 2024 (TWh) |
Coal | 1 |
Natural gas | 88 |
Nuclear | 22 |
Renewables | 159 |
Pumped storage output | 4 |
Battery storage output | 1 |
Pumped storage input | -5 |
Battery storage input | -2 |
Net imports | 57 |
Total supplied (net of storage & imports) | 327 |
Asked by: Lord Lucas (Conservative - Excepted Hereditary)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask Her Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer by Lord True on 28 April (HL7750), whether they will now answer the question put, namely what steps they are taking to promote energy efficiency in the public sector.
Answered by Lord Callanan - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
We aim to reduce direct emissions from public sector buildings by 75% by 2037. To that end we are supporting the public sector to decarbonise heat and improve the energy efficiency of their estates by:
Asked by: Lord Lucas (Conservative - Excepted Hereditary)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what criteria are used by ICF Consulting Services Ltd to assess value for money in the Green Homes Grant; and what assessment they have made of ICF’s (1) performance in assessing value for money, and (2) overall performance of their contract.
Answered by Lord Callanan - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
It is the responsibility of the Department to assess value for money of the scheme, not the contractor. The Department uses Net Present Value (NPV) to assess the current and future benefits and costs of a policy.
We have reached a commercial settlement with ICF about their ability to meet their contractual obligations and the exit and transition of the contract.
Asked by: Lord Lucas (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 give workers in the gig economy employment benefits and protection.
Answered by Lord Callanan - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
As announced in the Queens’ Speech, we will be bringing forward an Employment Bill to implement a range of Manifesto commitments.
This legislation will make workplaces fairer, by encouraging flexible working and introducing new protections for those in low-paid work and the gig economy.
It will balance the needs of both employers and workers and will ensure we have an employment framework that is fit for purpose in the 21st century.
Asked by: Lord Lucas (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 consequences, including safety, of proposals for UK domestic gas supplies to comprise up to 20 per cent hydrogen.
Answered by Lord Callanan - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
The Gas Safety (Management) Regulations 1996 (GSMR) were introduced as a statutory instrument to ensure the safety, quality, and management of the flow of gas through the gas network in Great Britain. The regulations are the responsibility of the Health and Safety Executive (HSE). It is the responsibility of the Gas Network Operators (GNOs) to make the case to the HSE that any changes they propose to the GSMR are safe.
The HyDeploy project has been commissioned by GNOs to investigate the option of blending up to 20% hydrogen with natural gas in the gas grid. The HSE have granted an exemption to the current GSMR hydrogen content limit of 0.1% for the duration of the HyDeploy project, subject to strict safety arrangements being in place.
The evidence produced by HyDeploy will be used to assess whether legislative changes allowing hydrogen blending should be made. It will also be used to assess whether any consequential changes would be required to charging arrangements.
Asked by: Lord Lucas (Conservative - Excepted Hereditary)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what plans they have to (1) allow UK domestic gas supplies to comprise up to 20 per cent hydrogen, and (2) ensure that customers are fairly charged for gas supplies with a variable percentage of hydrogen.
Answered by Lord Callanan - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
The Gas Safety (Management) Regulations 1996 (GSMR) were introduced as a statutory instrument to ensure the safety, quality, and management of the flow of gas through the gas network in Great Britain. The regulations are the responsibility of the Health and Safety Executive (HSE). It is the responsibility of the Gas Network Operators (GNOs) to make the case to the HSE that any changes they propose to the GSMR are safe.
The HyDeploy project has been commissioned by GNOs to investigate the option of blending up to 20% hydrogen with natural gas in the gas grid. The HSE have granted an exemption to the current GSMR hydrogen content limit of 0.1% for the duration of the HyDeploy project, subject to strict safety arrangements being in place.
The evidence produced by HyDeploy will be used to assess whether legislative changes allowing hydrogen blending should be made. It will also be used to assess whether any consequential changes would be required to charging arrangements.
Asked by: Lord Lucas (Conservative - Excepted Hereditary)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what plans they have to develop the UK gas network and appliances connected to it so that they are able to receive a supply of 100 per cent hydrogen.
Answered by Lord Duncan of Springbank
Replacing natural gas in the gas grid with hydrogen may be an option which could contribute to decarbonising heat, along with other options including heat networks, electric heat pumps and biogas. The Government’s December 2018 report on Clean Growth: Transforming Heating concluded that there is currently no clear consensus on the best approach to decarbonising heat at scale and that further work is required on the 100 per cent hydrogen option to prove the safety and feasibility case and to better understand the costs and benefits.
BEIS is currently working with industry organisations and other stakeholders to ensure that all the R&D, testing and trialling work required to achieve this has been identified.
The Government is also currently investing in a range of innovation programmes to explore and develop the potential of low carbon hydrogen for end use sectors. This includes:
o Up to £20m to test the potential for switching to hydrogen (and other low carbon fuels) across a range of industrial sectors,
o Hy4Heat – a £25m hydrogen for heat innovation programme with the aim of establishing if it is technically possible and safe to replace methane with hydrogen in residential and commercial buildings and gas appliances,
o £23m to support deployment of hydrogen vehicles and growth of refuelling infrastructure.
Asked by: Lord Lucas (Conservative - Excepted Hereditary)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask Her Majesty's Government who represents the UK at the Universal Postal Union; which organisation any such representative is part of; and what steps, if any, they intend to take in regard to the current level of charges for postal packets from China to the UK.
Answered by Lord Duncan of Springbank
The Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy represents the UK at the Universal Postal Union’s (UPU) Council of Administration. It attended the UPU Extraordinary Congress in September 2019 where an agreement on international remuneration rates for bulky letters and small packets was reached. Under this agreement most countries will move onto a single rate system in 2020.
Asked by: Lord Lucas (Conservative - Excepted Hereditary)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what steps they will take to tackle unfair market practices by e-commerce companies that run online marketplaces; and whether they will ban such companies from selling products in which they have an equity interest.
Answered by Lord Henley
Consumer protection legislation prohibits traders from engaging in unfair commercial practices. The Consumer Protection from Unfair Trading Regulations 2008 (CPRs) prohibit traders from engaging in unfair commercial practices such as misleading actions.
There is also legislation in place that protects consumers when buying tickets from secondary ticketing facilities which have an equity interest in the tickets being sold. For example, the Consumer Rights Act 2015 requires that, where the ticket seller is the operator of a secondary ticketing facility or a person who is employed or engaged by them, they must make this matter known to a prospective buyer.
In April 2018, the European Commission published a draft Directive to modernise and improve the enforcement of EU consumer law. This included a proposal to require online marketplaces to provide more information to help consumers understand their rights when shopping through an online marketplace. The proposal is still being negotiated.