Asked by: Kerry McCarthy (Labour - Bristol East)
Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:
To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, how many green jobs have been created in the last 12 months; and what estimate he has made of the number of green jobs that will be available over the next 10 years.
Answered by Graham Stuart
The Department does not hold data on the number of green jobs created since July 2023. Over 80,000 green jobs are being supported or are in the pipeline across the UK economy as a result of new government policies and spending since November 2020. Government policy and ambitions will support up to 480,000 jobs in 2030.
Asked by: Kerry McCarthy (Labour - Bristol East)
Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:
To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, what steps his Department is taking to support domestic manufacturing of clean energy products; and what data his Department holds on the number of clean energy manufacturing facilities opened since July 2022.
Answered by Graham Stuart
In Powering Up Britain, the Government set out additional support for clean technology manufacturing, including:
These interventions have helped secure opportunities for UK manufacturers. For example, through the Offshore Wind Manufacturing Investment Scheme Government supported SeAH Wind’s investment of over £400m to build a world leading monopile foundation manufacturing facility in Teesside, creating up to 800 jobs by 2030.
Asked by: Kerry McCarthy (Labour - Bristol East)
Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:
To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, whether he has made an estimate of the number of workers who will need to retrain in the next 10 years as a result of the transition to net zero; and what support his Department is providing to help those workers to retrain.
Answered by Graham Stuart
The transition to net zero will provide opportunities to grow the economy and support hundreds of thousands of green, high skilled jobs.
The North Sea Transition Deal is a global exemplar of how government can work with the energy sector to achieve a managed energy transition.
To understand and address workforce demands across the economy, the Green Jobs Delivery Group is focused on creating a Net Zero and Nature Workforce Action Plan, which will be informed by several sectoral assessments on workforce needs. As part of this, skills passporting arrangements for the power and networks sectors is being explored.
Asked by: Kerry McCarthy (Labour - Bristol East)
Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:
To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, what steps he is taking to support the decarbonisation of the metals recycling sector.
Answered by Graham Stuart
The metals recycling sector can bid into a number of government-funded decarbonisation schemes, including the Industrial Energy Transformation Fund, the Programme of Research and Innovation for the UK Steel and Metals sector (PRISM) run by the Materials Processing Institute, and the SUSTAIN Future Manufacturing Research Hub headed by Swansea University.
Businesses can also benefit from exemptions on business rates for investments in green technologies. The Government has announced a new Business Energy Advice Service that will specifically target SMEs. Working with the Energy Efficiency Taskforce, the Government is reviewing what additional support could help businesses to save energy.
Asked by: Kerry McCarthy (Labour - Bristol East)
Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:
To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, whether his Department is taking steps to increase the connectivity of metal recycling yards to the national energy grid.
Answered by Andrew Bowie - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
The Government is working with Ofgem and network companies to release network capacity and improve the connections process, which will reduce timescales for all types of connections, including metal recycling yards. Building on this work, the Government and Ofgem will publish a connections action plan in the summer.
Ofgem have also decided that electricity demand customers, such as metal recycling yards, submitting a connection application after 1 April 2023 will no longer be charged for any distribution network reinforcement costs to accommodate their connection, reducing the cost of connecting.
Asked by: Kerry McCarthy (Labour - Bristol East)
Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:
To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, with reference to his Department’s paper entitled Carbon Budget Delivery Plan, published 30 March 2023, what discussions he has had with the Food Standards Agency on (a) the timescale and (b) process of approving methane suppressing feed products for livestock; and what discussions has he had with the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs on farmers’ willingness to use methane reducing supplements.
Answered by Graham Stuart
The Domestic and Economic Affairs (Energy, Climate and Net Zero) Cabinet Committee and supporting governance structures provide forums to discuss how different sectors, including agriculture, contribute to our carbon budgets. My Rt. Hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero is the deputy chair of this Committee, which my Rt. Hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs attends as do I.
A call for evidence on methane suppressing feed products closed in November 2022. The Government will publish further details in the summary of responses later this year.
Asked by: Kerry McCarthy (Labour - Bristol East)
Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:
To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, what recent assessment he has made of whether the UK will (a) reduce methane emissions by 30 per cent by 2030 relative to 2020 levels and (b) exceed that target.
Answered by Graham Stuart
Methane emissions for each of the last 5 years is set out in the published UK Greenhouse Gas Inventory [https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/final-uk-greenhouse-gas-emissions-national-statistics-1990-to-2021] which shows that in 2021 UK methane emissions were 57.0Mt CO2-equivalent, 62% below 1990 levels. The latest projections of UK emissions, provided in the Carbon Budget Delivery Plan, do not include year-by-year estimates to 2030. The approach to methane reduction set out here and in the UK’s Methane Memorandum is consistent with the Government's commitment under the Global Methane Pledge. The global methane pledge is a global reduction target to reduce methane emissions by 30 per cent by 2030 relative to 2020 levels.
Asked by: Kerry McCarthy (Labour - Bristol East)
Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:
To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, what the UK's methane emissions (a) were in each of the last five years and (b) are estimated to be in each year to 2030.
Answered by Graham Stuart
Methane emissions for each of the last 5 years is set out in the published UK Greenhouse Gas Inventory [https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/final-uk-greenhouse-gas-emissions-national-statistics-1990-to-2021] which shows that in 2021 UK methane emissions were 57.0Mt CO2-equivalent, 62% below 1990 levels. The latest projections of UK emissions, provided in the Carbon Budget Delivery Plan, do not include year-by-year estimates to 2030. The approach to methane reduction set out here and in the UK’s Methane Memorandum is consistent with the Government's commitment under the Global Methane Pledge. The global methane pledge is a global reduction target to reduce methane emissions by 30 per cent by 2030 relative to 2020 levels.
Asked by: Kerry McCarthy (Labour - Bristol East)
Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:
To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, if he will make an assessment of the potential impact of bringing forward the ban on routine flaring and venting from 2030 to 2025 on levels of methane emissions.
Answered by Graham Stuart
The Government recognises that eliminating routine flaring and venting is a priority.
The upstream oil and gas sector contributes approximately 1.6% of UK methane emissions, compared to 30% from waste and 49% from agriculture.
Through the ambitious North Sea Transition Deal, industry has committed to accelerate compliance with the World Bank’s Zero Routine Flaring 2030 Initiative. Good progress is being made - the North Sea Transition Authority (NSTA) reported a 50% reduction in flaring since 2018 and a 13% drop last year.
Furthermore, the NSTA expects all new developments to be planned and developed with zero routine flaring and venting.
Asked by: Kerry McCarthy (Labour - Bristol East)
Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:
To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, how many cars are in his Department’s car fleet; and how many of these are electric.
Answered by Graham Stuart
The Department contracts with the Government Car Service, which is a division within the Department for Transport, for the provision of two cars.
The vehicle fuel type varies depending on which car has been allocated to cover on a given day. Generally, the cars are electric or hybrid.