Question time briefing: Energy and climate change

ePolitix.com reports on Thursday's questions to energy and climate change ministers.

The balance of Britain’s future energy sources dominated parliamentary questions, with the energy secretary defending the chancellor’s Budget as the right move towards a sustainable and low-carbon economy.

The government must not “pick and choose” between different low-carbon technologies, Ed Miliband said. Rather, Britain must develop a mixture of greener measures.

Miliband defended the Budget’s green credentials by highlighting a raft of new funding for diverse low-carbon technologies.

Specifically, he drew attention towards announcements of £45m made newly available for microgeneration whilst fellow minister Mike O’Brien announced Budget plans to fund four new carbon capture and storage (CSS) projects.

O’Brien also referred the Commons to an announcement, which would be provided later in the day, on a new government initiative regarding CSS.

Martin Horwood (Lib Dem, Cheltenham) accused the government of relegating the importance of renewables technologies by under-funding the department’s new office on renewables relevant to its sister office on nuclear technology.

The government was committed to renewables, Miliband said. He commented on enhanced funding for offshore wind farms announced in the Budget and assured Horwood that the new renewables office would be suitably funded.

Stephen Hepburn (Lab, Jarrow) asked the minister whether the coal industry has a clear role in Britain’s energy future.

The British coal industry had a future, dependent upon the evolution of CCS technology, O’Brien responded. However, he would not go into specifics about the location of the four new CCS projects to be implemented in the wake of the Budget.

David Taylor (Lab, Northwest Leicestershire) inquired about the redevelopment of opencast coal mining in the UK.

Issues for the planning of opencast sites were the responsibility of Communities and Local Government, O’Brien said. However, the government had a “presumption against” the practice, he said.

Gregory Barker, shadow minister for climate change, asked for an unequivocal statement that the government would not erect a single coal-fired power station without the implementation and immediate "running of’’ CCS technology to accompany it.

O’Brien drew Barker towards an impending statement on CSS technology to be made to the House later that day.

Adrian Bailey (Lab, West Bromwich West) called for an announcement on the government’s eleven proposed sites for nuclear new build.

A policy statement on the strategic siting of Britain’s nuclear new-build would be made in the autumn, Miliband said.

Charles Henry, shadow energy minister, concluded that Britain’s future energy security lay in a precarious state with the government failing to build new capacity in nuclear, gas storage and offshore wind technologies.

The session moved to discuss the deployment of new energy projects with Peter Bone (Con, Wellingborough) suggesting that onshore wind farms should only be built if sanctioned by locally affected communities.

“Each planning application has to be considered on its merits”, O’Brien said. However, onshore farms were an essential component of the overall energy package in Britain, he added.

Questioned the efficiency of the deployment of onshore wind farms in the UK, Philip Hollobone (Con, Kettering) asked whether farms were being were located in the windiest places.

O’Brien recognised the “intermittency” regarding onshore wind technology but said that it was partly down to the companies creating new farms to ensure they were being built in the right place.

Norman Baker, Liberal Democrat spokesman for transport, raised the issue of aviation emissions and said that the Department for Transport was “derailing” the UK’s climate change agenda.

Miliband said that emissions from transport must be seen in the context of the sector. He also promoted the government’s work on Crossrail and attacked the Conservatives for claiming to support aviation development in the south east whilst refusing to support expansion at any of the region’s big three airports.

The session moved to discuss fuel poverty.

Derek Twigg (Lab, Halton) called for more government engagement with energy companies, in order to tackling rising domestic bills.

Ofgem is “changing the law on prepayment meters” as part of a move to tackle fuel poverty, Miliband said.

Miliband then attacked shadow energy minister Greg Clarke’s suggestions that the government had poor credentials on fuel poverty and the Warm Front scheme.

He said that, since 2002, five million houses have been insulated.

Clarke presented his party’s proposal for every home to be allocated £650 to address energy efficiency, with funding freed-up from lower energy bills.

This was an uncosted proposal, Miliband retorted.

Topical questions

Laura Moffatt (Lab, Crawley) said that firms pioneering CSS technology in the UK must be consulted on the new CCS strategy by the government.

David Taylor (Lab, North West Leicestershire) questioned the new car scrappage scheme’s green credentials , calling it a “green coat of paint” measure.

Andrew Selous (Con, South West Bedfordshire) said that motorists were being clobbered as part of the government’s green agenda, with rises in fuel prices announced in the Budget.

Jo Swinson (Lib Dem, East Dunbartonshire) said that the government missed an opportunity on climate change in yesterday’s Budget.

Miliband commented that the government was pioneering on the issue of climate change, Britain being the first country in the world to legislate on carbon budgets.

Ann Winterton (Con, Congleton) called for a new debate on climate change which looked at the facts and considered evidence against the notion of global warming.

Miliband advised her to “trust the science” that overwhelmingly points towards man-made global warming of the planet.