Asked by: Alex Cunningham (Labour - Stockton North)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, pursuant to the Answer of 16 November 2020 to Question 114164 on Shipping: Carbon Emissions and with reference to page 31, paragraph 92 of the Clean Maritime Plan, if he will list the negative externalities associated with zero emission shipping technologies which deter (a) public and (b) private investment in low or zero emission fuels for the shipping industry.
Answered by Robert Courts - Solicitor General (Attorney General's Office)
DfT-commissioned research, published in 2019 to support the publication of the Clean Maritime Plan, explored market failures and other barriers to the take-up of emission abatement options. This research highlighted that negative externalities associated with emissions of GHGs and air pollutants from the consumption of fuels constitute a market failure that influences the perceived cost effectiveness of any possible abatement option.
As set out in the Clean Maritime Plan, the negative externalities associated with zero emission shipping technologies mean that the return on investment for many technologies is not currently sufficient to attract finance at competitive rates. Further information on the nature and implications of this and other market failures and barriers to the transition to clean maritime is publicly available on GOV.UK[1]
Asked by: Alex Cunningham (Labour - Stockton North)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, with reference to the Clean Maritime Plan, published 11 July 2019, whether his Department has made an estimate of the potential amount of (a) public and (b) private investment required to achieve the pathway to zero carbon emissions in the domestic maritime industry.
Answered by Robert Courts - Solicitor General (Attorney General's Office)
The Department has undertaken extensive research considering the level of investment required for the UK’s domestic maritime sector to achieve net zero by 2050. This research comprises a range of scenarios assessing different policy options, including both costs and benefits, and has been published on GOV.UK:https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/clean-maritime-plan-maritime-2050-environment-route-map
Asked by: Alex Cunningham (Labour - Stockton North)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, whether his Department has made a recent assessment of the effect of the objectives of the Clean Maritime Plan, published in July 2019, on maritime employment levels in each year to 2035.
Answered by Robert Courts - Solicitor General (Attorney General's Office)
Alongside the Clean Maritime Plan, the Department published an assessment of the potential economic opportunities from low and zero emission shipping. While this does not estimate the number of potential new jobs that could be created through the decarbonisation of the maritime sector, it identifies a large potential global market for the elements of alternative maritime fuel production technologies in which the UK has a particular competitive advantage (for example, upfront design), which could result in economic benefits to the UK of around £360–£510 million per year by the middle of the century.
More recently, Maritime UK has published its views that investment in maritime decarbonisation could in future create more than 15 thousand jobs as well as tens of thousands of jobs when considering the wider supply chain[1]. Industry research estimates that in 2017 the UK maritime sector as a whole directly supported more than 220 thousand jobs for UK employees[2].
[1] https://www.maritimeuk.org/spending-review/bid/
Asked by: Alex Cunningham (Labour - Stockton North)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, pursuant to the Answer of 11 November 2020 to Question 111511, when he plans to publish the Transport Decarbonisation Plan; and what assessment he has made of the potential effect of that Plan on the planned review of the Clean Maritime Plan in 2022.
Answered by Rachel Maclean
We expect to publish the Transport Decarbonisation Plan in Spring 2021. When reviewing the Clean Maritime Plan in 2022, the Government will consider the actions set out in the Transport Decarbonisation Plan and the progress made towards maritime decarbonisation.
Asked by: Alex Cunningham (Labour - Stockton North)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, pursuant to the Answer of 11 November 2020 to Question 111511 on Merchant Shipping: Carbon Emissions, how much the Government is investing to support the transition to zero emission vessels in the UK shipping industry; and if he will include full details of that investment in the Transport Decarbonisation Plan.
Answered by Rachel Maclean
To date, the Department for Transport has funded a £1.5m competition for innovation in clean maritime and provided £193,897 in grant support, through the Department’s Transport Technology Research Innovation Grant Programme, to early stage research projects related to clean maritime. Details of the grant winners are available, respectively, on the MarRI-UK website[1] and on GOV.UK[2].
[1] https://www.marri-uk.org/funding-opportunities/clean-maritime-call/clean-maritime-call-winners
Asked by: Alex Cunningham (Labour - Stockton North)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what plans he has to use the Renewable Transport Fuel Obligation to encourage the uptake of low carbon fuels in the shipping industry.
Answered by Rachel Maclean
As set out in our Clean Maritime Plan, we are considering whether and how the Renewable Transport Fuel Obligation (RTFO) could be used to encourage the uptake of low carbon fuels in maritime. We plan to consult soon on this policy as part of a wider consultation on potential changes to the RTFO scheme.
Asked by: Alex Cunningham (Labour - Stockton North)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, with reference to the report of the Committee on Climate Change, Reducing UK emissions: Progress report to Parliament. published in June 2020, what assessment he has made of the potential effect on (a) port workers, (b) port infrastructure and (c) seafarers of the recommendation that the shipping industry switch to using vessels powered by (i) hydrogen and (ii) ammonia in order to reduce greenhouse gas emissions from merchant shipping activity.
Answered by Robert Courts - Solicitor General (Attorney General's Office)
The Department has been engaging actively with maritime stakeholders to better understand the opportunities for employment arising from the transition to net zero and will comment on the related consideration of employment issues in the forthcoming Transport Decarbonisation Plan.
More broadly, following the publication of the Clean Maritime Plan and its associated research in 2019, the Department has commissioned additional research into the economic opportunities presented by maritime clusters and the role such clusters will play in delivering net zero, and expects this work to be finalised later this year.
Asked by: Alex Cunningham (Labour - Stockton North)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, with reference to the report commissioned by his Department, Reducing the Maritime Sector’s Contribution to Climate Change and Air Pollution - Economic Opportunities from Low and Zero Emission Shipping, published in 2019, when he plans to make an assessment of the effect on (a) port worker and (b) seafarer employment of the transition to zero emission shipping.
Answered by Robert Courts - Solicitor General (Attorney General's Office)
The Department has been engaging actively with maritime stakeholders to better understand the opportunities for employment arising from the transition to net zero and will comment on the related consideration of maritime employment issues in the forthcoming Transport Decarbonisation Plan.
More broadly, following the publication of the Clean Maritime Plan and its associated research in 2019, the Department has commissioned additional research into the economic opportunities presented by maritime clusters and the role such clusters will play in delivering net zero, and expects this work to be finalised later this year.
Asked by: Alex Cunningham (Labour - Stockton North)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what effect the inaugural meeting of the Hydrogen Advisory Council on 20 July 2020 has had on his Department’s Clean Maritime Plan.
Answered by Robert Courts - Solicitor General (Attorney General's Office)
Government is committed to developing hydrogen as a strategic decarbonised energy carrier. The Hydrogen Advisory Council was established in July 2020 to inform the development of a hydrogen strategy, to be published early in 2021, and formalise engagement with industry. The Clean Maritime Plan was published in 2019, prior to the launch of the Hydrogen Advisory Council, but recognised the key role hydrogen may have to play in the decarbonisation of the maritime sector. Further detail on the Government’s policies on maritime decarbonisation will be set out in the forthcoming Transport Decarbonisation Plan.
Asked by: Alex Cunningham (Labour - Stockton North)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what effect the inaugural meeting of the Hydrogen Advisory Council on 20 July 2020 has had on his policies on sea port infrastructure on the east coast of (a) England and (b) Scotland.
Answered by Robert Courts - Solicitor General (Attorney General's Office)
The Hydrogen Advisory Council was established in July 2020 to inform the development of a hydrogen strategy, to be published early in 2021, and formalise engagement with industry.
At the inaugural meeting of the council, hydrogen demand in transport sector and accompanying infrastructure requirements were discussed. No policies on sea port infrastructure on the east coast of England and Scotland, where port policy is devolved, have been changed in light of the inaugural meeting of the Hydrogen Advisory Council.