Asked by: Scott Benton (Independent - Blackpool South)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what support he is providing to regional airports for the costs of installing infrastructure to allow a transition to green fuel sources.
Answered by Anthony Browne - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
As a predominately private sector investment in infrastructure is a matter for individual airports. The Government is however supporting R&D activity to enable the sector to prepare for the adoption of new zero emission aviation fuels such as hydrogen.
As part of the Tees-Valley Transport Hydrogen Hub DfT is supporting the establishment of re-fuelling stations at Teesside International Airport which can be used by hydrogen airside vehicles.
In October 2023 DfT launched a Transport Research and Innovation Grant competition. Through this we are offering funding for up to 10 projects which can facilitate the development of infrastructure for zero emission airport operations and the handling of zero emission aircraft. The competition has closed and applications are currently being assessed.
In addition, the Jet Zero Council has a dedicated sub-group on Zero Emission Flight Infrastructure. This group convenes representatives of government, industry and academia with an interest in developing zero emission flight in the UK.
Asked by: Daniel Kawczynski (Conservative - Shrewsbury and Atcham)
Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:
To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, whether she has made an assessment of the potential merits of using non-fungible tokens in the issuing of North Sea licences.
Answered by Graham Stuart
The North Sea Transition Authority, the regulator and licensing body for oil and gas, offshore hydrogen and carbon storage, has made no such assessment.
Asked by: David Duguid (Conservative - Banff and Buchan)
Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:
To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, what assessment she has made of potential future trends in the level of demand for oil and gas.
Answered by Graham Stuart
As set out in our Net Zero Strategy demand pathway, in 2035, demand for oil and gas may be just over half of 2022 levels.
Whilst our domestic production is expected to decline by 7% year-on-year, new licensing will limit our import dependency to around 60% instead of 70% by 2035.
By 2050, oil use will concentrate in aviation. Gas will be used with CCUS abatement, generating cleaner electricity and hydrogen.
Asked by: Charlotte Nichols (Labour - Warrington North)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what steps he is taking to help support the electrification of heavy goods vehicles.
Answered by Anthony Browne - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
The Department’s £200 million zero emission HGV demonstrator programme is supporting the introduction of up to 310 battery electric and 60 hydrogen fuel cell HGVs into UK fleets, as well as the deployment of supporting charging and refuelling infrastructure. The programme will provide real world evidence and performance data on which future investment decisions can be made.
The Department continues to work with industry stakeholders to develop a zero emission HGV and coach infrastructure strategy for publication in early 2024. A call for evidence on this topic closed on 14 December 2023.
Asked by: Julian Knight (Independent - Solihull)
Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:
To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, what her planned timetable is for announcing the successful applications for the Hydrogen Allocation Round Two.
Answered by Andrew Bowie - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
Following the success of Hydrogen Allocation Round 1 (HAR1) we have now launched Hydrogen Allocation Round 2 (HAR2) and the application window will close on 19 April 2024.
We will aim to announce a shortlist of projects who will be invited to the agreeing of an offer stage in Autumn 2024, and aim to award contracts of up to 875MW from early 2025, subject to affordability and value for money. This is to help deliver our ambition of up to 1GW of electrolytic hydrogen production projects being in operation or in construction by 2025.
Asked by: Emily Thornberry (Labour - Islington South and Finsbury)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, with reference to his Department's publication of data on spending over £500 using a government procurement card in August 2023, what the (a) location and (b) purpose was of the ministerial visit for which a car was hired from Network Executive Ltd on 3 August 2023.
Answered by Anthony Browne - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
The spend relates to a Ministerial visit to the North East. The Secretary of State travelled between several locations in Darlington and Teeside to meet with local stakeholders and visit a range of transport-related sites, including meeting with the winners of the Tees Valley hydrogen transport hub competition.
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 recent assessment he has made of the effectiveness of the North Sea Transition Authority for supporting the delivery of the UK’s climate targets.
Answered by Amanda Solloway - Government Whip, Lord Commissioner of HM Treasury
The North Sea Transition Authority plays a crucial role in helping to achieve the Government's commitment to reach Net Zero emissions by 2050. Its Strategy reflects the ongoing energy transition and features a range of net zero obligations on the oil and gas industry, including stepping up efforts to reduce production emissions, supporting carbon capture and storage projects and unlocking clean hydrogen production.
Asked by: Dan Carden (Labour - Liverpool, Walton)
Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:
To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, what assessment she has made of the potential implications for her Department's policies of the International Energy Agency's publication entitled The Oil and Gas Industry in Net Zero Transitions, published in November 2023.
Answered by Graham Stuart
The Government reads publications from the International Energy Agency with interest and will consider the contents of its latest report carefully. As recognised in the report, the oil and gas industry is well placed to scale up some of the key technologies needed to reach net zero such as hydrogen, carbon capture, and offshore wind.
Asked by: Alistair Carmichael (Liberal Democrat - Orkney and Shetland)
Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:
To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, whether she has had discussions with the Chancellor of the Exchequer on funding to support the development of the low-carbon cement sector.
Answered by Graham Stuart
My Rt hon Friend the Secretary of State regularly discusses a range of issues with my Rt hon Friend Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer. Carbon Capture Usage and Storage will be crucial for decarbonisation of industries, such as cement, which otherwise lack viable alternatives to achieve deep decarbonisation. CCUS and low carbon hydrogen are vital to transforming these sectors. In March, the Chancellor announced £20 billion investment in the early development of CCUS to help meet the Government’s climate commitments. The Government is taking forward the Hanson Padeswood Cement Works to proceed to negotiations for support under the Industrial Carbon Capture business model.
Asked by: Bill Esterson (Labour - Sefton Central)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, whether he is taking steps to incentivise the uptake of four and six-axle electric HGVs.
Answered by Anthony Browne - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
The Department has already taken steps to support uptake of electric HGVs by increasing their maximum gross weight limit to reduce any payload loss compared to a diesel equivalent. The Road Vehicles (Authorised Weight) (Amendment) Regulations 2023 came into force in July 2023, and there is an associated published impact assessment.
The Department is also in the procurement process for a research project on weights and dimensions of zero emission HGVs. The project will provide an evidence base to inform policy discussions regarding weights and dimensions within the UK. The deadline for bids was on Sunday 19 November.
Since the plug-in van grant was launched in 2012, it has supported over 40,000 electric vans and HGVs across the UK. There are now almost 60 models of electric vans and trucks eligible for grants. These include a wide variety of specifications, such as differing wheelhouses and roof heights, and benefit from lower running costs than internal combustion engine vans.
Finally, to further increase the evidence base on performance of the largest zero emission HGVs, the Department’s £200m zero emission HGV and infrastructure programme will demonstrate zero emission HGVs and their associated charging and fuelling infrastructure at scale on UK roads. The four winning projects will roll out up to 370 zero emission HGVs, around 50 battery electric charging sites and up to 7 hydrogen refuelling stations.