Asked by: Lord Taylor of Warwick (Non-affiliated - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the role of hydrogen technology in reducing aviation carbon emissions to net zero by 2050, and what steps they are taking to accelerate the adoption of hydrogen-powered aircraft.
Answered by Lord Davies of Gower - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
The Government’s Jet Zero Strategy, published in July 2022, set out our approach to achieving net zero UK aviation by 2050 through multiple different measures. 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.
Between 2013 and 2030, industry and government will invest over £5 billion to develop transformational aircraft technology through the Aerospace Technology Institute Programme. This includes co-investment in industry led projects to develop hydrogen aircraft in the UK.
In 2022 a Delivery Group of the government and industry forum the Jet Zero Council was established to accelerate the adoption of zero emission flight.
Asked by: Lord Jackson of Peterborough (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:
To ask His Majesty's Government, following the publication of the British energy security strategy policy paper on 7 April 2022, what progress they are making in their ambition for the UK to achieve up to 10 gigawatts of low carbon hydrogen production capacity by 2030, with at least half of this coming from electrolytic hydrogen.
Answered by Lord Callanan - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
Since the British Energy Security Strategy we have made rapid progress, establishing an investable business model to bring forward new hydrogen production facilities and delivering a £240m capital fund to support early deployment. In December 2023, we announced the largest number of commercial scale green hydrogen production projects at once anywhere in Europe, supporting 11 electrolytic projects through the first hydrogen allocation round. The second allocation round is currently underway with annual allocation planned from 2025. This, alongside the cluster sequencing process bringing forward carbon capture and storage-enabled hydrogen, will ensure we remain on track to meet our 2030 ambition.
Asked by: Lord Jackson of Peterborough (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:
To ask His Majesty's Government what funding assistance they are providing for market structures and mechanisms for supporting increased hydrogen production.
Answered by Lord Callanan - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
The UK’s strong policy framework – including the Hydrogen Production Business Model, Net Zero Hydrogen Fund and Low Carbon Hydrogen Standard – has created an investable model which has leveraged private investment to kick start the UK’s hydrogen economy.
Government is supporting projects to move the UK closer to our hydrogen ambitions.
In December 2023 we announced 125MW of successful projects from Hydrogen Allocation Round (HAR) 1, and have since launched HAR2, aiming to allocate up to a further 875MW in 2025, subject to affordability and value for money.
Asked by: Lord Jackson of Peterborough (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:
To ask His Majesty's Government what progress they are making in establishing a hydrogen certification scheme for imported and exported hydrogen.
Answered by Lord Callanan - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
In the British Energy Security Strategy, the Government committed to setting up a low carbon hydrogen certification scheme from 2025 and is now working at pace to put it in place.
While the scheme will initially be domestically focused, the Government is taking steps to ensure that it can facilitate international trade in future. This includes participating in international fora on certification and signing a Declaration of Intent at COP28 on cross-border recognition of hydrogen certification.
The Government will set out a pathway to international alignment ahead of launch of the scheme.
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 her Department is taking to encourage investment in the energy supply chain industry.
Answered by Andrew Bowie - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
The recently published BloombergNEF (BNEF) Energy Transition Investment Trends Report (2023) reported that total public and private investment in UK low-carbon sectors in 2023 reached £60 billion rising from £35 billion in 2022. The Government understands the importance of growing domestic energy supply chains, therefore at Spring Budget 2024 £120m funding to the Green Industries Growth Accelerator (GIGA) was announced, in addition to the £960m already allocated. This will support investments in manufacturing capabilities for the clean energy sectors where the UK has clear strengths: carbon capture utilisation and storage (CCUS), hydrogen, offshore wind, electricity networks, and nuclear. The Government is also providing up to £160 million to leverage private investment into the port infrastructure required to support floating offshore wind deployment at scale.
Asked by: Caroline Lucas (Green Party - Brighton, Pavilion)
Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:
To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, what estimate her Department has made of how much carbon dioxide will be emitted from blue hydrogen production at the HyNet North West project.
Answered by Andrew Bowie - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
Hynet Hydrogen Production Plant 1(HPP1) will have an initial production capacity of 350MW and will capture around 600,000 tonnes of CO2 a year, according to Hynet. All CCUS-enabled hydrogen projects seeking government subsidies will need to demonstrate compliance with the Low Carbon Hydrogen Standard, which sets a threshold of 20gCO2e/MJ of hydrogen.
Asked by: Angus Brendan MacNeil (Independent - Na h-Eileanan an Iar)
Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:
To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, whether investment to support the manufacture of wind turbine jackets will be included in the Green Industries Growth Accelerator.
Answered by Graham Stuart - Minister of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
The Government has committed £1.1 billion to the Green Industries Growth Accelerator to support the expansion of domestic green manufacturing capacity and strengthen clean energy supply chains. At Spring Budget, we announced provisional allocations of up to £390 million for offshore wind and networks, up to £390 million for carbon capture, utilisation and storage and hydrogen and up to £300m to support domestic production of high-assay low-enriched uranium (HALEU) for nuclear fuel.
The Government is conducting engagement with industry on the design of the Accelerator and more detail on eligibility and how to apply for funding will be shared in due course.
Asked by: Peter Grant (Scottish National Party - Glenrothes)
Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:
To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, when she plans to respond to Questions 17752 and 17753 on Hydrogen: Heating, tabled on 8 March 2024 by the Hon. Member for Glenrothes.
Answered by Andrew Bowie - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
I replied to the Hon Member on Friday 15 March.
Asked by: Neale Hanvey (Alba Party - Kirkcaldy and Cowdenbeath)
Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:
To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, how much her Department has spent on developing (a) HyNet North West, (b) East Coast Cluster, (c) Acorn and (d) Viking CCS.
Answered by Andrew Bowie - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
£210 million (matched by £261 million from industry) has been allocated through the UKRI Industrial Decarbonisation Challenge (IDC) since 2019 to drive the decarbonisation of the UK’s six major industrial clusters, of which £150 million has been allocated to projects within HyNet, East Coast Cluster, Acorn and Viking CCS clusters. The breakdown of funding allocated (all funding will be allocated by the end of March 2024) and funding provided to date through the IDC to projects within the clusters mentioned are as follows:
The clusters have also received funding through other sources other than the IDC. Since 2019, a) the HyNet cluster was awarded £8.5m, b) East Coast Cluster was awarded £1.3m c) the Scottish cluster was awarded £9.3m and d) the Viking CCS was awarded £7.9m of innovation funding under the BEIS CCUS Innovation, Advancing CCS Technologies (ACT) and Hydrogen Supply programmes.
Asked by: Peter Grant (Scottish National Party - Glenrothes)
Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:
To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, when she plans to make an announcement on the funding applications from the four Gas Distribution Networks for the Hydrogen Heating Town pilot.
Answered by Andrew Bowie - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
The Government received applications from each of the four Gas Distribution Networks for funding to develop outline plans for how a roll out of hydrogen heating might start in each of their network areas, starting with a potential hydrogen town
The Government decided in December 2023 not to proceed with a hydrogen village trial in Redcar as the main source of hydrogen would not be available. The Government is assessing the implications of that decision for our policy on planning for a hydrogen town pilot and will provide an update on this work in due course.