Electricity Market Reform

Debate between Neil Carmichael and Chris Huhne

Thursday 16th December 2010 Commons Chamber

[Chris Huhne]

There are two parts to the hon. Gentleman’s question. The first was whether the proposals are a subsidy for nuclear. I could not be clearer: this is a subsidy for low-carbon sources of energy generation. There is no subsidy specifically to nuclear. That is fundamental. [Interruption.] No; this is about low carbon. Our vision in the long term is that we should be able to rely on the market as much as possible to determine which sources of energy are the best for the British consumer. We want companies to make proposals, and—on the second part of the hon. Gentleman’s question—I very much hope that they will be on clean coal. We have an enormous amount of coal in this country that I want us to be able to use, but we cannot use it unless we can decarbonise it. We cannot use it and meet our carbon emissions targets unless we make a success of carbon capture and storage, which is exactly why I was so pleased that, despite a very tough spending round, we managed to secure £1 billion to make sure we have the first commercial-scale coal carbon capture and storage plant in the world. I hope genuinely that it will unlock a whole new future for coal as a source of low-carbon electricity generation.

[Neil Carmichael (Stroud) (Con)]

rose—

[Neil Carmichael]

I was just surprised to be asked.

I very much welcome the reforms, which are an excellent start. The Secretary of State talks about a gradual process. Will he give us some idea of when the four elements will be up and running?

[Chris Huhne]

We would aim to get the White Paper out in the spring and legislation landed in this place before the end of the Session, although realistically it would probably have to be a carry-over. I hope very much that we shall have legislation in place, and therefore the market system in place, in 2012.

Cancun Climate Change Conference

Debate between Neil Carmichael and Chris Huhne

Monday 13th December 2010 Commons Chamber

[Chris Huhne]

The fast-start finance is being paid. [Interruption.] No, actually, a very substantial amount is coming through. If one looks at our European partners and the Dutch Government’s website, which lists all the commitments that have already been made, including those outside Europe where countries have been stepping up to the plate, one sees there is a substantial measure of commitment. Things are not perfect and we are not all the way there but there is real money going through, and that can underpin real action early on to help developing countries in their efforts.

On the $100 billion, there is much more flesh on the bones than there was a year ago. We have the report of the advisory group on climate change financing, which has done a lot of good technical work, and it has been taken note of here. We will make progress through the rest of the year.

[Neil Carmichael (Stroud) (Con)]

Obviously, we all welcome the progress that was made at Cancun and it is extremely good news that we are talking about processes being re-established. How does the Secretary of State think that China and India could be encouraged to co-operate more fully with the targets on carbon dioxide reduction?

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Neil Carmichael and Chris Huhne

Thursday 16th September 2010 Commons Chamber

[Neil Carmichael (Stroud) (Con)]

6. What plans he has to introduce a floor price for carbon.

[The Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change (Chris Huhne)]

In the Budget, Her Majesty’s Treasury and Her Majesty’s Revenue and Customs announced that the Government will publish proposals this autumn to reform the climate change levy to provide more certainty and support to the carbon price. Subject to consultation, the Government will bring forward relevant legislation in the Finance Bill 2011.

[Neil Carmichael]

I thank the Secretary of State for that encouraging answer because, of course, that will be a prelude to more growth and more jobs. How can we be sure that those measures will stimulate investment in green technology?

[Chris Huhne]

I am a great believer in the virtues of the market and of the price mechanism, and I am sure that my hon. Friend is, too. It is fairly well established that if the price of something goes up, the supply of it tends to follow. If we provide a carbon price floor, as we intend to do, we anticipate that that will send precisely the sort of price signals to suppliers that will bring forward the capacity that we need to provide us with energy security in a low-carbon way.