Asked by: Henry Smith (Conservative - Crawley)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, what steps her Department is taking to engage with tier 2 suppliers developing new hydrogen technology for the aviation sector.
Answered by Nusrat Ghani - Minister of State (Minister for Europe)
The Department for Business and Trade is investing £685m through the Aerospace Technology Institute (ATI) Programme to co-fund the development of zero-carbon and ultra-efficient aircraft technology and cross-cutting enablers. This includes collaborative R&D projects to develop new hydrogen technologies.
We are funding the ATI’s Hydrogen Capability Network Phase 0 project to explore the operating model for open access facilities to accelerate the development of liquid hydrogen aircraft technologies and capabilities.
As part of the Jet Zero Council, a Zero Emission Flight Delivery Group is advising on how government and industry can work together to accelerate the adoption of zero emission flight.
Asked by: Henry Smith (Conservative - Crawley)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, with reference to the Aerospace Technology Institute Fly Zero project, what assessment his Department has made of the implications for its policies of the use of hydrogen in long haul aviation.
Answered by Anthony Browne - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
The conclusions made by the FlyZero project were used to inform the Government’s Jet Zero Strategy, which was published in July 2022, and sets out the Government’s approach to achieving net zero 2050 for UK aviation. The use of hydrogen is considered in the Zero Emission Flight chapter of the Strategy.
The Strategy anticipates that hydrogen will be first deployed in short haul aviation with recognised uncertainty on the potential for and timing of its scaling up for use in long haul. As with all measures in the Jet Zero Strategy the Government keeps the evidence base under regular review and any changes will be reflected in future updates to the Strategy.
Building on the recommendations of the FlyZero project, the Government, through the Department for Business and Trade, are funding the initial phase of a Hydrogen Capability Network. This project aims to define the operating model for open-access facilities designed to accelerate the development of liquid hydrogen aircraft technologies, capabilities, and skills in the UK.
The Government continues its work with industry and academia through the Jet Zero Council to drive the delivery of new technologies and innovative ways to cut aviation emissions. In 2022 a Delivery Group of the Council was established on Zero Emission Flight, which considers the use of hydrogen in meeting net zero aviation by 2050.
Asked by: Henry Smith (Conservative - Crawley)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what assessment his Department has made of the comparative potential merits of different sustainable air fuels in the context of variation of lifecycle emissions within fuels denoted as the same type.
Answered by Anthony Browne - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
Sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) can be easily blended with conventional jet fuel and then used in existing aircraft and engines. We recognise that SAF can be made from different low carbon feedstocks and technology pathways, and that the detail of these impact the lifecycle emission savings from the fuel. When using sustainable feedstocks, such as wastes or renewable electricity, to produce SAF, its use can reduce carbon emissions by 70% compared to conventional jet fuel.
The SAF mandate, which will mandate jet fuel suppliers to supply increasing levels of SAF in the UK, will start in 2025. As a greenhouse gas (GHG) based scheme, it will encourage suppliers to source SAF that achieves the greatest emission reductions. It will also require the supplied SAF to meet a minimum emission reduction threshold, further strengthening our intention to support SAF that meets the highest sustainability criteria.
In 2022, under the renewable transport fuel obligation (RTFO) 48 million litres of SAF were supplied in the UK, with a reported average of 90% emission reductions. We expect the SAF mandate to build upon these volumes and increase the demand for SAF in the UK.
Asked by: Henry Smith (Conservative - Crawley)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what recent discussions he has had with the Civil Aviation Authority on the processes it has in place for the licensing of hydrogen in aviation (a) testing and (b) programmes.
Answered by Anthony Browne - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
The Government works closely with the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA), the UK’s independent aviation regulator.
Baroness Vere met with new CAA CEO Rob Bishton on 26 October and discussions included the CAA’s approach to regulating innovative technologies that will support decarbonisation of the sector.
The CAA are active participants in the Jet Zero Council, the forum that brings together Government, industry and academia to drive the delivery of new technologies and innovative ways to cut aviation emissions and co-chaired by the Secretaries of State for Transport, Business and Trade and Energy Security and Net Zero. The CAA attended the ninth Jet Zero Council, held on 8 November, and also chair a Regulatory Sub-Group within the Zero Emission Flight Delivery Group of the Council.
The CAA is supporting the testing of hydrogen in aviation by a range of UK organisations. As one example ZeroAvia, with CAA permissions, are currently test flying an aircraft using hydrogen fuel-cell propulsion in Gloucestershire.
The CAA have also established a Hydrogen Regulatory Challenge which will run for 18 months from October 2023 supported by funding from the Department for Science, Innovation and Technology’s Regulatory Pioneers Fund.
Asked by: Henry Smith (Conservative - Crawley)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what assessment he has made of the potential impact of the sustainable aviation fuel price support mechanism on the (a) price of such fuel and (b) adoption of (i) fuel-efficient technology and (ii) hydrogen implementation.
Answered by Anthony Browne - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
Government has committed to launching a consultation on the options for designing and implementing a sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) revenue certainty scheme by the end of April 2024, in line with the statutory commitment made in the Energy Act 2023. This consultation, along with key Government policies such as the SAF mandate and Advanced Fuels Fund aim to support the development of a UK SAF industry.
Government will assess the impacts of a revenue certainty mechanism on fuel pricing and technology as part of that consultation.
Asked by: Henry Smith (Conservative - Crawley)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what plans his Department has to support UK SMEs developing innovative decarbonisation technologies in the aviation sector other than through the Aerospace Technology Institute.
Answered by Anthony Browne - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
The Department for Business and Trade (DBT) is responsible for aerospace manufacturing, however the Department for Transport (DfT) is supporting UK SMEs to develop technology for use at airports to support the decarbonisation of the aviation sector.
In October, DfT announced the latest round of Transport Research and Innovation Grant (TRIG) funding which includes £450,000 for up to 10 projects that either facilitate the development of airport ground infrastructure for zero emission aircraft or support airport operations in their transition to zero emission. TRIG is open to UK registered SMEs, large companies and universities.
The Government also works with industry and academia through the Jet Zero Council, co-chaired by the Secretaries of State for Transport, Business and Trade and Energy Security and Net Zero, to drive the delivery of new technologies and innovative ways to cut aviation emissions.
Asked by: Henry Smith (Conservative - Crawley)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment he has made of the adequacy of the Innovative Medicines Fund in increasing access to gene therapies.
Answered by Andrew Stephenson - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) makes recommendations for the National Health Service in England on whether all new licensed medicines represent a clinically effective and cost-effective use of NHS resources. NICE has been able to recommend several gene therapies for routine funding and they are now routinely available to NHS patients in line with NICE’s recommendations. No gene therapies have been recommended for use through the Innovative Medicines Fund and NICE continues to consider the suitability of medicines for the Fund with individual companies.
Asked by: Henry Smith (Conservative - Crawley)
Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:
To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, whether representatives of (a) BGI Group, (b) subsidiaries of BGI Group and (c) companies in which BGI Group has invested have been invited to attend the UK AI safety summit scheduled to take place in November 2023.
Answered by Paul Scully
To ensure the AI Safety Summit can achieve its objectives, it is necessary to have a small but international discussion at the event. This will limit the participants to around 100, including world leaders and companies at the cutting edge of frontier AI. The UK has actively considered national security in decision making to ensure that the partnerships and invitees are aligned with our National Security interests. Further information about invitees will be made available in due course.
Asked by: Henry Smith (Conservative - Crawley)
Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:
To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, whether the use of artificial intelligence (AI) within the field of genomics will form part of the agenda at the upcoming AI Summit in November 2023.
Answered by Paul Scully
The UK Summit will focus on frontier AI risks, which includes risks from frontier AI models to biosecurity (and within that, genomics), which are increasingly urgent to address at an international level. The Government is also undertaking a full programme of work to assess how we can minimise the risks from biological data and protect our burgeoning bioeconomy.
Asked by: Henry Smith (Conservative - Crawley)
Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:
To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, if she will take steps to include the potential impact of the Chinese state’s activity relating to genomics on national security in any international framework that is developed at the UK AI safety summit in November 2023.
Answered by Paul Scully
The Government does not comment on specific details of national security assessments. The Summit will aim to develop a forward process on how to support national and international frameworks on AI safety which include emerging issues such as biosecurity and cybersecurity, including from the potential misuse of models by non-state actors.