Asked by: John McNally (Scottish National Party - Falkirk)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, with reference to Q339 of the evidence given by the Minister for Pensions to the Work and Pensions Committee on 10 January 2024, HC144, whether the Minister has had recent discussions with representatives of the Pension Protection Fund (PPF) on indexation of pre-1997 contributions; and when he next plans to meet with PPF representatives.
Answered by Paul Maynard - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Work and Pensions)
I meet regularly with the Pensions Protection Fund and have discussed pre-97 Pensions Protection Fund indexation with them. The most recent meeting was on 7th March 2024.
Asked by: John McNally (Scottish National Party - Falkirk)
Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:
To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, whether her Department has made an assessment of the potential impact of the use of woody biomass as feedstock for bioenergy with carbon capture and storage on (a) global land use and (b) the availability of land for growing crops.
Answered by Andrew Bowie - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
To ensure that bioenergy with carbon capture and storage (BECCS) delivers genuine negative emissions, Government will require that only sustainable biomass is used. The 2023 Biomass Strategy included an assessment of sustainable biomass availability to the UK (including woody biomass), to support the UK’s net zero target. The availability of sustainable woody biomass was estimated using updated modelling which included considerations of global land use to exclude unsustainable changes, as well as accounting for wider land use pressures such as food security and biodiversity.
Asked by: John McNally (Scottish National Party - Falkirk)
Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:
To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, if she will update her Department’s greenhouse gas removals business model to include (a) enhanced rock weathering and (b) other technologies that do not use carbon capture and storage.
Answered by Andrew Bowie - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
The Government recognises the potential role of greenhouse gas removal (GGR) technologies that do not require carbon capture and storage (CCS) in meeting net zero, including enhanced rock weathering, though specific technical and regulatory barriers must be addressed before any decisions can be made on their eligibility for the GGR business model. As set out in the Government response to the GGR business model consultation, published in June 2023, this includes the need for further evidence on permanence, reversibility, and environmental impacts associated with these methods.
The Government is working closely with academics, industry, and the UK Research and Innovation (UKRI) GGR Demonstrator projects to investigate the feasibility of scaling non-CCS GGR technologies in future.