Asked by: Greg Smith (Conservative - Mid Buckinghamshire)
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 is taking to promote innovation within the small satellite manufacturing sector; and if he will make a statement.
Answered by Amanda Solloway
Through the UK Space Agency, the Government continues to invest in supporting research & development. Increasingly, this is aimed at fostering innovation in the manufacture of small satellites and associated ground systems to support this growing market. Initiatives are underway to support Earth observation, satellite telecommunications, exploration and science, ranging from providing low cost access to space to enable a wider range of small and medium enterprises and academia to use space, to setting up a commercial lunar data relay service using small satellites.
The UK Space Agency has also supported UK small satellite manufacturers and their UK supply chains to industrialise production of their satellites to meet an increase in demand and exploit emerging technologies.
Asked by: Greg Smith (Conservative - Mid Buckinghamshire)
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 support private investment in the UK's hydrogen sector.
Answered by Kwasi Kwarteng
It is clear, there is growing interest in the Hydrogen sector and we are in regular discussions with businesses about their investment plans for hydrogen projects. The Government is currently investing up to £121 million in hydrogen innovation, supporting a range of projects exploring the potential of low carbon hydrogen across the value chain. Alongside our innovation activity, we are developing sustainable business models to support hydrogen production and will be engaging with Industry on the £100m Low Carbon Hydrogen Fund later this year. We are undertaking extensive stakeholder engagement as we develop new policy to help bring forward the technologies and supply chains, we will need to grow the UK hydrogen economy. As part of this we are looking to formalise regular engagement between Government and industry to discuss and drive development of the UK hydrogen economy. This will consider how we can best work together to encourage increased private sector investment in hydrogen projects, growing the hydrogen supply chain and providing clean growth and new jobs across the UK.
Asked by: Greg Smith (Conservative - Mid Buckinghamshire)
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 is taking to support the development of green hydrogen production facilities.
Answered by Kwasi Kwarteng
The Government is committed to exploring the option of hydrogen as a strategic decarbonised energy carrier. In line with this we are currently investing up to £121 million in hydrogen innovation, supporting a range of projects exploring the production and potential of low carbon hydrogen across the value chain. We support green hydrogen production facilities both through innovation funding and other grants. An example is our support for the industrialisation of production processes at the new ITM Power Gigafactory being built in Sheffield which when complete will be the largest electrolyser manufacturing facility in the world.
Asked by: Greg Smith (Conservative - Mid Buckinghamshire)
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 set a target for the production of green hydrogen by (a) 2025, (b) 2030 and (c) 2050.
Answered by Kwasi Kwarteng
We recognise the important role that targets, alongside long-term policy frameworks have often played in the development of low carbon technology in the UK. We are currently developing our strategic approach to hydrogen and its potential to deliver against our net zero goals. We will set out our plans in due course. We are undertaking extensive stakeholder engagement as we develop new policy to help bring forward the technologies and supply chains, we will need to grow the UK hydrogen economy, including green hydrogen. As part of this we are looking to formalise regular engagement between Government and industry to discuss and drive development of the UK hydrogen economy. We have not set any targets, although we support green hydrogen production facilities both through innovation funding and other grants. An example is our support for the industrialisation of production processes at the new ITM Power Gigafactory being built in Sheffield which when complete will be the largest electrolyser manufacturing facility in the world.
Asked by: Greg Smith (Conservative - Mid Buckinghamshire)
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 promote the UK's hydrogen sector at COP26.
Answered by Kwasi Kwarteng
COP26 will provide an opportunity to demonstrate a range of UK innovations and developments, including potential use of hydrogen as a contributor to achieving our net-zero ambition. We are exploring how this might be achieved, including demonstration of hydrogen appliances developed under the Hy4Heat programme, as part of the BEIS Energy Innovation Portfolio. The UK is well placed to enhance international cooperation to accelerate clean energy innovation, including hydrogen technologies.
Asked by: Greg Smith (Conservative - Mid Buckinghamshire)
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 produce a UK-wide hydrogen strategy.
Answered by Kwasi Kwarteng
The Government is committed to the development of hydrogen as a strategic decarbonised energy carrier for the UK. We are currently developing our strategic approach to hydrogen and its potential to deliver against our net zero goals. We will set out our plans in due course.
In order to inform our approach, we are undertaking extensive stakeholder engagement as we develop new policy to help bring forward the technologies and supply chains, we will need to grow the UK hydrogen economy. This includes business models to support the deployment of, and investment in, low carbon hydrogen production and a £100m Low Carbon Hydrogen Production Fund to stimulate capital investment. We will be further engaging with industry on both schemes throughout the year.
Asked by: Greg Smith (Conservative - Mid Buckinghamshire)
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 the hydrogen strategies being published by (a) Germany, (b) Denmark and (c) the European Commission.
Answered by Kwasi Kwarteng
The Government is committed to the development of hydrogen as a strategic decarbonised energy carrier. We are closely monitoring international hydrogen developments and participate in a range of international fora, including the International Partnership for Hydrogen for Fuel Cells in the Economy, Mission Innovation and Clean Energy Ministerial. These forums offer opportunities to discuss international activity on hydrogen, including strategies put forward by Germany, Denmark, and the European Commission. This contributes to understanding of, for example, respective drivers for interest, levels of ambition, innovation priorities and policy support frameworks. This is informing our own strategic approach to the development of hydrogen in the UK context, including opportunities for partnership and economic benefit.
Asked by: Greg Smith (Conservative - Mid Buckinghamshire)
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 sustainability of sourcing rare earths for battery technology.
Answered by Kwasi Kwarteng
The Government is aware of the socioeconomic, environmental and supply concerns surrounding the mining of raw materials for electric vehicle (EV) batteries and is taking steps to address these.
The Government has committed £274m into the Faraday Battery Challenge (FBC) to support the research, development and scale-up of world-leading battery technology in the UK.
This include research to make better use of global resources and support a more circular economy; for example, by reducing the amount of critical raw materials, such as cobalt, that are used in EV batteries, and localising more of the battery supply chain to the UK. The Faraday Institution’s £10m ‘ReLiB’ (Reuse and Recycling of Lithium-ion Batteries) research project is developing the technological, economic and legal infrastructure to allow close to 100% of the materials in lithium-ion batteries to be reused or recycled at the end of their first life. Through the Faraday Institution, the UK participates in the Global Battery Alliance: a World Economic Forum initiative seeking to accelerate action towards a socially responsible, environmentally sustainable and innovative battery value chain.