Thomas Docherty
Main Page: Thomas Docherty (Labour - Dunfermline and West Fife)
Thomas Docherty (Dunfermline and West Fife) (Lab)
11. When he expects to conclude the assessment of bids for funding of carbon capture and storage projects.
The Minister of State, Department of Energy and Climate Change (Charles Hendry)
Bidders were required to register their interest in the carbon capture and storage commercialisation programme with the Department by 13 April, and must submit bids by 3 July. Once bids are submitted, a full and thorough assessment will be carried out, and decisions on which projects to support will be taken in the autumn.
Thomas Docherty
I am grateful for that answer. Obviously the Minister will know that we in the UK have vast reserves of untapped coal, including much in Fife. Will he try to ensure that the opportunity for clean-coal technology is not lost in the current process, and will he find the time to come to Fife and see our technologies first hand?
Charles Hendry
I would always be delighted to find a chance to go to the hon. Gentleman’s constituency. As he knows, I fought Clackmannan in the 1983 election. They did not see the need for my presence there at that time, but finding other reasons to go back would be a great pleasure. We see this issue as an important part of coal policy, and we want it to provide a long-term future for coal in the energy mix. There are tremendous resources around the United Kingdom, and the work being done in his constituency and elsewhere is important to that process.