Asked by: Bill Wiggin (Conservative - North Herefordshire)
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 ensure that electricity supply is adequate to match the increase in demand for electric vehicles.
Answered by Kwasi Kwarteng
The Government is working with the energy industry to plan for electric vehicle uptake, and the market is already set up to bring forward investment in new generation capacity; for example the Contracts for Difference scheme supports investment in new low carbon generation, and additional demand can be managed through adjustments to the amount of capacity secured through the Capacity Market auctions.
Electric vehicles also present an opportunity for consumers to contribute to the efficient management of electricity supply and demand, and share the benefits of doing so through smart technologies.
Asked by: Bill Wiggin (Conservative - North Herefordshire)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what estimate he has made of the number of electric vehicles produced in the UK in 2030.
Answered by Nadhim Zahawi
The Faraday Institution, which supports UK battery development, estimates that the UK will be producing nearly 1.6 million electric vehicles (EVs) per year by 2040. The report ‘UK electric vehicle and battery production potential to 2040’ can be downloaded from the Faraday Institution’s website at: https://faraday.ac.uk/publications/.
The Government continues to create the right environment to support an increase in the production of EVs in the UK. We have announced up to £1 billion through the Automotive Transformation Fund to develop UK supply chains for the large-scale production of EVs and for further research and development (R&D). £10 million of funding will enable the first wave of innovative R&D projects to scale-up manufacturing of the latest technology in batteries, motors, electronics, and fuel cells. The Government is also encouraging industry to put forward investment proposals for gigafactories and to support supply chains to mass manufacture cutting-edge batteries for the next generation of EVs, as well as for other strategic electric vehicle technologies.
Asked by: Bill Wiggin (Conservative - North Herefordshire)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what estimate he has made of the number of people who will be employed in the electric vehicle manufacturing sector by 2030.
Answered by Nadhim Zahawi
The Faraday Institution, which supports UK battery development, estimates that the overall industry workforce in the automotive and electric vehicle battery ecosystem could grow by 29% from 170,000 employees in 2020 to 220,000 employees by 2040. The report ‘UK electric vehicle and battery production potential to 2040’ can be downloaded from the Faraday Institution’s website at: https://faraday.ac.uk/publications/.
Asked by: Bill Wiggin (Conservative - North Herefordshire)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, if he has made an assessment of the potential merits of mining lithium in the UK to produce responsibly sourced electric vehicle batteries.
Answered by Nadhim Zahawi
In order to meet the anticipated global demand for batteries for electric vehicles, production needs to increase significantly worldwide. Lithium and associated Li-ion technology is a key component. The Faraday Battery Challenge is supporting the increase in production of current Li-ion technology - from early stage research, through innovation, to scale-up - to help position the UK to best capture this market.
The Faraday Battery Challenge is looking at the feasibility of extracting lithium in the UK, including in Scotland and Cornwall. Research suggests that domestic sources of lithium have the potential to provide a substantial portion of the UK’s future demand, allowing us to develop a domestic, environmentally responsible, lithium supply. In order to ensure that the full value that we expect this new industry to generate is captured in the UK, it is essential to build the rest of the downstream supply chain domestically, so that battery-quality chemicals and batteries can also be produced here.
Asked by: Bill Wiggin (Conservative - North Herefordshire)
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 make the UK a leading producer of battery technology.
Answered by Nadhim Zahawi
In order to meet the anticipated global demand for batteries for electric vehicles, production needs to increase significantly worldwide. Lithium and associated Li-ion technology is a key component. The Faraday Battery Challenge is supporting the increase in production of current Li-ion technology - from early stage research, through innovation, to scale-up - to help position the UK to best capture this market.
The Faraday Battery Challenge is looking at the feasibility of extracting lithium in the UK, including in Scotland and Cornwall. Research suggests that domestic sources of lithium have the potential to provide a substantial portion of the UK’s future demand, allowing us to develop a domestic, environmentally responsible, lithium supply. In order to ensure that the full value that we expect this new industry to generate is captured in the UK, it is essential to build the rest of the downstream supply chain domestically, so that battery-quality chemicals and batteries can also be produced here.
Asked by: Bill Wiggin (Conservative - North Herefordshire)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, whether the Government plans to provide additional financial support to (a) pubs, (b) restaurants and (c) other businesses worst affected by the covid-19 lockdown.
Answered by Paul Scully
There is a significant package of financial support currently available to businesses in the hospitality sector to help the difficulties caused by Covid-19 and the associated social distancing measures the Government has put in place. The wide range of schemes include:
We continue to keep our support for pubs, restaurants and other businesses under review and to listen to feedback from businesses, and their representatives, in affected sectors.
Asked by: Bill Wiggin (Conservative - North Herefordshire)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what steps the Marches local enterprise partnership has taken to support the New Model in Technology and Engineering university project in Herefordshire.
Answered by Nadhim Zahawi
The Government’s awarding of Growth Deal 3 funding in March 2017 provided a boost of £21.9 million for the Marches area.
Since the Deal was agreed, the Marches Local Enterprise Partnership (LEP) have been working closely with the New Model in Technology and Engineering (NMiTE) project. The LEP also provided development funding to the project to support the completion of the business case.
A location for the first phase of development has been identified. The LEP have recently received a business case for the second phase of development, and discussions aimed at agreeing the next tranche of funding are ongoing.
Asked by: Bill Wiggin (Conservative - North Herefordshire)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what plans her Department has to fund research into micro-algae biofuels as an alternative to fossil fuel.
Answered by Chris Skidmore
The majority of BEIS funding for research is allocated through UK Research and Innovation (UKRI). UKRI currently funds a large portfolio of research projects looking at bioenergy and other alternative energy sources.
Algae have considerable potential as an industrial biotechnology platform serving a wide range of bio-based products. Developed in the right conditions, this could offer a low carbon alternative to existing technologies as well as a sustainable alternative to traditional crop cultivation. Algae-UK, one of six funded Networks in BBSRC’s Industrial Biotechnology and Bioenergy portfolio, is focussing on realising the potential of algal systems.
More widely, the Department has also supported a Science and Innovation Audit for the marine economy in the Highland and Islands region of Scotland, home of 61% of the UK’s coastline. The report, published earlier this year, highlighted the potential value of marine biotechnology to the region, which could be worth £600m by 2030.
Asked by: Bill Wiggin (Conservative - North Herefordshire)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what assessment he has made of the potential effect of the UK leaving the EU on the UK's contribution to tackling climate change.
Answered by Chris Skidmore
I refer my hon Friend to the answer I gave to my hon Friend the hon. Member for Crawley (Henry Smith) to Question 253562.