Asked by: Geraint Davies (Independent - Swansea West)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, whether he has had recent discussions with trade unions on the exposure to high levels of air pollution of (a) people who work in drive throughs and (b) other workers.
Answered by Graham Stuart - Minister of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
Ministers regularly meet with external stakeholders. Details of ministerial meetings with external organisations are published quarterly and can be found on GOV.UK at: https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/beis-ministerial-gifts-hospitality-travel-and-meetings.
The latest published data covers July to September 2022, further data will be published in due course. In line with Cabinet Office Guidance, organisations are listed instead of individuals.
Asked by: Geraint Davies (Independent - Swansea West)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what plans he has to ensure that oil and gas operations in the North Sea urgently tackle their gas leaks and losses, to improve the UK's energy security, reduce their methane emissions and help to meet the UK’s commitments in the Global Methane Pledge.
Answered by Graham Stuart - Minister of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
Companies operating in the North Sea are required to assess methane management measures in line with regulatory approval processes. The Government is taking steps to drive down methane emissions in the North Sea, including those from leaks and losses, through commitments set out the in North Sea Transition Deal, supported by the industry Methane Action Plan commitment to a 50% reduction in methane emissions by 2030.
In addition, the Offshore Major Accident Regulator inspects offshore installations for compliance with regulations relating to the release of gases; working with companies to prevent losses, and taking enforcement action where required.
Asked by: Geraint Davies (Independent - Swansea West)
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 implications for his policies of research at Swansea University on the production of green hydrogen from off-peak renewables and recycled plastic.
Answered by Nusrat Ghani - Minister of State (Minister for Europe)
The Government welcomes research into waste-to-hydrogen technologies. We have stretching ambitions for low carbon hydrogen production in the UK and our innovation and deployment support is designed to bring forward multiple production technologies.
Asked by: Geraint Davies (Independent - Swansea West)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what recent assessment he has made of the contribution to the UK's net zero target of burning imported wood pellets in UK power stations.
Answered by Graham Stuart - Minister of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
The Net Zero Strategy outlined the UK’s ambition of 5MtCO2/year of engineered removals by 2030 and included illustrative ranges of 22-23MtCO2/year of engineered removals by 2035 and 75- 81MtCO2/year by 2050. Bioenergy with Carbon Capture & Storage (BECCS) projects have the potential to play a role in reaching these ambitions as the UK will likely require around 58Mt of negative CO2 emissions via engineered removals by 2050 to meet net zero. The Climate Change Committee (CCC) recommend deploying BECCS in the UK at a potential rate of 53 MtCO2/yr by 2050 which makes BECCS the main option for negative emissions.
Through the Biomass Strategy, the UK will establish the role of BECCS in reducing carbon emissions across the economy and set out how the technology could be deployed.
Asked by: Geraint Davies (Independent - Swansea West)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what is his policy on the sustainability of burning imported wood pellets for energy in the UK.
Answered by Graham Stuart - Minister of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
The UK Government supports the use of sustainable biomass but generators must only receive subsidies for biomass that complies with strict sustainability criteria. Generators must demonstrate to the regulator that they meet the criteria, and that evidence must be independently audited.
Asked by: Geraint Davies (Independent - Swansea West)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, with reference to the Net Zero Strategy published in October 2021, if he will take steps to promote the use of sustainable building materials, including hempcrete.
Answered by Jane Hunt
The Government recognises that the use of environmentally sustainable building materials has an important role to play in meeting our net zero target. The Government also recognises that sustainability can be achieved in different ways. We are focused on promoting the use of low-carbon products and processes, and reducing waste, rather than specific material types.
Asked by: Geraint Davies (Independent - Swansea West)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, how much his Department has spent supporting the community-owned renewable energy sector in each year since 2015.
Answered by Greg Hands - Minister of State (Department for Business and Trade)
The Government recognises that community energy groups have a role to play in the Department’s efforts to decarbonise the economy.
Through the introduction of UK-wide growth funding schemes, such as the UK Shared Prosperity Fund, the Government is enabling local areas to tackle net zero goals in ways that best suit their needs. The Government encourages community energy groups to work closely with their local authority to support the development of community energy projects within these schemes.
The Government also plans to reintroduce the Community Energy Contact Group to strengthen engagement with the sector.
There have been a range of government initiatives from different Government Departments that have supported the community energy sector since 2015. This includes grant funding through the £15 million Rural Community Energy Fund (RCEF) from Defra and BEIS, and broader schemes which have been open to community energy groups as well as other organisations, such as the Feed in Tariff scheme, the Towns Fund, and the Community Renewal Fund, where spend is not shown explicitly for community groups.
RCEF projects are currently in the delivery stage, and we expect to review the scheme in due course.
Asked by: Geraint Davies (Independent - Swansea West)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what steps his Department has taken to support the development of community owned renewable energy schemes.
Answered by Greg Hands - Minister of State (Department for Business and Trade)
The Government recognises that community energy groups have a role to play in the Department’s efforts to decarbonise the economy.
Through the introduction of UK-wide growth funding schemes, such as the UK Shared Prosperity Fund, the Government is enabling local areas to tackle net zero goals in ways that best suit their needs. The Government encourages community energy groups to work closely with their local authority to support the development of community energy projects within these schemes.
The Government also plans to reintroduce the Community Energy Contact Group to strengthen engagement with the sector.
There have been a range of government initiatives from different Government Departments that have supported the community energy sector since 2015. This includes grant funding through the £15 million Rural Community Energy Fund (RCEF) from Defra and BEIS, and broader schemes which have been open to community energy groups as well as other organisations, such as the Feed in Tariff scheme, the Towns Fund, and the Community Renewal Fund, where spend is not shown explicitly for community groups.
RCEF projects are currently in the delivery stage, and we expect to review the scheme in due course.
Asked by: Geraint Davies (Independent - Swansea West)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what assessment his Department has made of the effectiveness of the Rural Community Energy Fund.
Answered by Greg Hands - Minister of State (Department for Business and Trade)
The Government recognises that community energy groups have a role to play in the Department’s efforts to decarbonise the economy.
Through the introduction of UK-wide growth funding schemes, such as the UK Shared Prosperity Fund, the Government is enabling local areas to tackle net zero goals in ways that best suit their needs. The Government encourages community energy groups to work closely with their local authority to support the development of community energy projects within these schemes.
The Government also plans to reintroduce the Community Energy Contact Group to strengthen engagement with the sector.
There have been a range of government initiatives from different Government Departments that have supported the community energy sector since 2015. This includes grant funding through the £15 million Rural Community Energy Fund (RCEF) from Defra and BEIS, and broader schemes which have been open to community energy groups as well as other organisations, such as the Feed in Tariff scheme, the Towns Fund, and the Community Renewal Fund, where spend is not shown explicitly for community groups.
RCEF projects are currently in the delivery stage, and we expect to review the scheme in due course.
Asked by: Geraint Davies (Independent - Swansea West)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, whether the terms and conditions governing HETAS’s contract with his Department to manage the Biomass Suppliers List require it to declare (a) current and (b) future potential conflicts of interest.
Answered by Greg Hands - Minister of State (Department for Business and Trade)
The administrator of the Biomass Suppliers’ List is Woodsure. Woodsure is a fully owned subsidiary of HETAS.
The Department’s standard terms and conditions of contract include reference to conflict of interest, this requires contractors to declare any potential conflict of interest to the Secretary of State.