Asked by: Lord Mendelsohn (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask Her Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer by Lord Henley on 17 April (HL15078), when they will publish the details of the projects that have been successful as part of the Carbon Capture and Utilisation Demonstration Programme and the Call for Carbon Capture, Usage and Storage Innovation.
Answered by Lord Henley
We will be announcing the details of the successful projects in due course.
Asked by: Lord Mendelsohn (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask Her Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer by Lord Henley on 17 April (HL15076), whether they will publish any advice they have received about solar radiation management (SRM) technologies having clear winners and losers; whether they will publish the reasons for their decision to cease research into SRM technologies; whether they intend to review that decision; and if so, when.
Answered by Lord Henley
Research into Solar Radiation Management (SRM) technologies was commissioned by the Department of Energy and Climate Change and published in peer-reviewed scientific journals; references are given in our published position statement, attached.
We did not commission further research because the next logical step was to do similar studies with different climate models run by institutions in other countries. This has been taken forward by the World Climate Research Programme’s Geoengineering Model Intercomparison Project (GeoMIP), which has served to coordinate SRM simulations across international modelling groups. Results from this project indicate that there are still large uncertainties in the effectiveness of SRM and its potential wider impacts on the environment. This work is ongoing and the Government maintains an interest in its outputs.
Asked by: Lord Mendelsohn (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask Her Majesty's Government, further to their invitation to contribute views and evidence to the statutory review on the Pubs Code and Pubs Code Adjudicator, published on 30 April, what additional activity, meetings and investigations they are undertaking as part of that review.
Answered by Lord Henley
In addition to responses to the invitation to contribute views, the review will be informed by the sources of evidence listed in its published Terms of Reference and by ongoing engagement with a broad range of stakeholders.
Asked by: Lord Mendelsohn (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask Her Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer by Lord Henley on 16 April (HL15075), whether they will publish the minutes of the discussions between the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy and UK Research and Innovation (UKRI) on the possibility of new research funding for Greenhouse Gas Removal (GGR) demonstrators; when a decision will be reached on new funding for such demonstrators; and what further meetings are planned with UKRI to discuss GGR technologies.
Answered by Lord Henley
A decision on new funding for GGR demonstrators is pending with the my rt. hon. Friend Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, and with HM Treasury. No further meetings with UKRI on the specific topic of GGR technologies are currently planned.
Asked by: Lord Mendelsohn (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask Her Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer by Lord Henley on 17 April (HL15078), when they expect to complete, and publish, their study of different options for incentivising Greenhouse Gas Removal technologies.
Answered by Lord Henley
The study on options for incentivising Greenhouse Gas Removal technologies is near completion and we aim to publish it in due course.
Asked by: Lord Mendelsohn (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what estimate they have made of the increase in demand for power as a result of any growth in electric vehicle use by (1) 2030, and (2) 2040; and what plans they have to ensure the UK's energy infrastructure meets this rise in demand.
Answered by Lord Henley
National Grid (Electricity System Operator) published their 2018 Future Energy Scenarios on 12 July (attached) and previously produced a bespoke note on the electricity system impacts of electric vehicles (attached). The level of impact that National Grid presents is manageable by the electricity system and shows the benefits that can be provided through smart charging of electric vehicles. Therefore, the Government has taken powers in the Automated and Electric Vehicles Act to mandate that all charge points sold or installed in the UK must be smart enabled, and we are planning to consult on secondary regulations this year. In addition, the Government has established an Electric Vehicle Energy Taskforce, made up of representatives from across the automotive and energy industries and consumer groups, in order to consider these issues, alongside the wider integration of electric vehicles into the energy system. The Government is confident it will be possible to manage additional demand from greater uptake of electric vehicles through adjustments to the level of capacity secured in Capacity Market auctions.
In terms of transporting the power, network companies (including transmission operators) are regional monopolies regulated by the independent energy regulator Ofgem. Ofgem regulates the companies using a price control process called RIIO. As part of this process companies are expected to run a safe and secure network whilst adequately investing for the future and ensuring fair costs to consumers. This process ensures the network infrastructure can transport the power to where it is needed.
Asked by: Lord Mendelsohn (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made, if any, of the recommendation in the report by the Royal Society and Royal Academy of Engineering Greenhouse gas removal, published in September 2018, to incentivise demonstrators and early stage deployment to enable development of greenhouse gas removal methods.
Answered by Lord Henley
We agree with the need for further research, development and demonstration of early-stage greenhouse gas removal methods, as well as the need to look how best to incentivise responsible deployment. The Department is addressing these recommendations by conducting a more detailed study of different policy options for incentivising removals, and through constructive discussions with the UK Research & Innovation (UKRI) about the possibility of new research funding for demonstrators in the near future.
BEIS is co-funding an £8.6 million GGR research programme with UK Research & Innovation (UKRI) which will continue until 2021. In addition, projects for some GGR approaches are in scope for both our £20 million Carbon Capture and Utilisation Demonstration (CCUD) Programme and £24 million Call for Carbon Capture, Usage and Storage (CCUS) Innovation. The details of these successful CCUS and CCUD projects will be announced in due course.
Asked by: Lord Mendelsohn (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what plans they have, if any, to promote improved global cooperation and governance of research and use of greenhouse gas removal and solar radiation management technologies.
Answered by Lord Henley
The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change provides a mechanism for global cooperation to assess research into Greenhouse Gas Removal technologies (GGRs) and Solar Radiation Management (SRM). These technologies are included in the scope of the upcoming 6th Assessment Report, due for publication in 2021.
The UK is a leading member of a number of multi-lateral initiatives focused on accelerating progress, and improving global cooperation, of Carbon Capture, Use and Storage (CCUS) which is an important enabler of some GGRs. This includes the UK co-leading the Carbon Capture Challenge under Mission Innovation and the CCUS Initiative under the Clean Energy Ministerial. The UK also co-hosted, with the International Energy Agency, a Global CCUS Summit in Edinburgh last November bringing together senior energy leaders from governments and industry on how to accelerate global progress on CCUS.
As a leading provider of International Climate Finance, the UK supports developing countries to restore degraded forest landscapes to support local livelihoods and restore carbon stocks as part of their contributions under the Paris Agreement.
We have no plans to increase global cooperation and governance of research on and use of SRM technologies. A resolution on SRM governance was recently put before the UN Environment Assembly by Switzerland, but did not gather enough support from other countries, and the resolution was withdrawn.
Asked by: Lord Mendelsohn (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made, if any, of the risks and benefits of solar radiation management technology; and what plans they have, if any, to increase funding of research into that technology.
Answered by Lord Henley
The Government is continually monitoring the evidence base relating to Solar Radiation Management technologies (SRM). As set out in our public position statement on geo-engineering, our view is that SRM would produce changes in rainfall patterns and amounts. This would be likely to lead to winners and losers, with some regions suffering detrimental impacts.
The Government is not commissioning further research into SRM, but the World Climate Research Programme’s (WCRP’s) Geoengineering Model Intercomparison Project (GeoMIP), is investigating the effects which SRM would have on the climate.
Asked by: Lord Mendelsohn (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the risks and benefits of greenhouse gas removal technology; and what plans they have, if any, to increase funding of research into that technology.
Answered by Lord Henley
The Government is continually monitoring the evidence base relating to Greenhouse Gas Removal technologies (GGRs). Additionally it commissioned a review by the Royal Society and Royal Academy of Engineering on GGRs, published in September 2018, which includes specific assessment of the risks and benefits of the different GGR options.
BEIS is co-funding an £8.6 million GGR research programme with UK Research & Innovation (UKRI) which will continue until 2021. In addition, projects for some GGR approaches are in scope for both our £20 million Carbon Capture and Utilisation Demonstration (CCUD) Programme and £24 million Call for Carbon Capture, Usage and Storage (CCUS) Innovation. The details of these successful CCUS and CCUD projects will be announced in due course.
BEIS has held constructive discussions with UKRI about the possibility of new research funding for GGR demonstrators.