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Petroleum/Oil Supplies

Mr. Pelling: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry if he will make a statement on the role that his Department will play in reducing the prospective shortfall in diesel fuel refineries over the next decade. [16409]

Malcolm Wicks: The Department is monitoring the situation. There is a generally accepted view that, with no changes to the existing refineries, Europe will be short of about 50 million tonnes of diesel per year after 2012. Existing UK refineries have been developed to meet the demand for mainly petrol that was prevalent in the 1980s. Europe already has an excess of petrol and other market outlets are limited. Further investment in existing refineries could address some of the imbalance.

A further solution to the problem is to develop refineries to process heavy oil. This not only makes more diesel and jet fuel, relative to gasoline, but also gives access to oil supplies that are more readily available and cheaper than light, sweet crude.

We are aware that the oil industry is beginning to respond to the market opportunities presented by diesel and heavy oil, both in the UK and Europe. It is early days and the plans are confidential. I will inform Parliament of any developments.

Sustainable Development

Mr. Alan Reid: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what steps have been taken by his Department to review its arrangements for public reporting of its sustainable development impacts. [16246]

Malcolm Wicks: The DTI reports publicly on SD impacts through the Sustainable Development in Government (SDiG) report (the 2004–05 report is currently being compiled by the Sustainable Development Commission). DTI also participates in the Whitehall working group which is reviewing the Framework for reporting on sustainable development impacts within Government.
 
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In line with the UK Sustainable Development Strategy, DTI is producing a sustainable development action plan and will report against the commitments it lays down from December 2006. We will be reviewing our arrangements for public reporting of our SD impacts as part of developing our SD action plan.

Mr. Alan Reid: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what progress has been made on his Department's Sustainable Development Strategy. [16247]

Malcolm Wicks: The DTI was the first Government Department to produce its own Sustainable Development Strategy in 2000. The strategy identified where DTI can most make a difference in delivering the Government's Sustainable Development (SD) goals.

Since 2000 we have focused on the priorities set out in the DTI SD strategy, for example the Energy White Paper of 2003 set out four new goals for energy policy, including to put the UK on a path to cut carbon dioxide emissions by some 60 per cent. by 2050.

Other priorities drawn out in the strategy were sustainable consumption and production (SCP), corporate social responsibility (CSR) and Greening Government. These have been taken forward through a number of initiatives—including publication in 2003 of "Changing Patterns—UK Government Framework for Sustainable Consumption and Production" and the new commitments set out in chapter three of the UK Sustainable Development Strategy ("Securing the Future", of March 2005); the launch of the CSR Academy and the International Strategic Framework on CSR. Work on Greening Government is ongoing.

SD is being integrated into regulatory impact assessments (RIAs). RIAs are produced and published for all new proposals with significant public or private sector impacts. The National Audit Office will start to look at the SD aspects included in RIAs from 2006.

SD is embedded in the DTI business plan, in objectives 4, 7 and 11.

The strategy is being superseded by the SD action plan that is currently being developed.

Mr. Alan Reid: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what steps he is taking to provide the delivery of sustainable development within Government. [16248]

Malcolm Wicks: The Framework for Sustainable Development on the Government Estate is the main vehicle for improving the performance of the Government estate. The DTI have published our overarching commitments and outlines of our sustainability strategies for travel, water, waste, energy and biodiversity on the Department's website (www.dti.gov.uk/sustainability/sus/green.htm)

The DTI Sustainable Procurement Strategy will be finalised later this year in accordance with the framework.

A sustainability strategy has been drawn up for our estates and will be published later this year. However, the DTI are already working towards the commitments the strategy sets out.
 
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Mr. Alan Reid: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what parts of his Department's estate will not be covered by the commitments set out in the Framework for Sustainable Development on the Government Estate. [16249]

Malcolm Wicks: The Framework for Sustainable Development on the Government Estate covers DTI HQ and non-HQ sites and Executive agencies. Sites excluded from the framework are sites to be disposed of by 2006 and that have fewer than 50 staff and sites with minor occupancy leased from other Government Departments. Sites not covered are: Athol House (Aberdeen), Tay House (Glasgow) and the National Weights and Measures Laboratory. The rest of the DTI estate is covered.

Mr. Alan Reid: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what arrangements his Department has in place to report publicly on its key sustainable development impacts. [16251]

Malcolm Wicks: The DTI publicly reports on key sustainable development (SD) impacts through the Sustainable Development in Government (SDiG) report (the 2004–05 report is currently being compiled by the Sustainable Development Commission).

In line with the UK Sustainable Development Strategy, DTI is currently developing a sustainable development action plan, and will report against the commitments it lays down from December 2006.

The Department's environmental performance is reported in annex C7 of the departmental report 2005 (www.dti.gov.uk/expenditureplan/report2005/index.html). This gives details on how the DTI is continuing to work towards achieving the Framework for Sustainable Development in the Government Estate within its London HQ estate. For example the Department met our waste recycling targets with 59 per cent. of DTI HQ waste being recycled. Information on our performance is also included on our website www.dti.gov.uk/sustainability/sus/green.htm.
 
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Offshore/Onshore Wind Generation

Tim Farron: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what research his Department has (a) commissioned and (b) evaluated on proposed wind farm schemes in the constituency of Westmorland and Lonsdale. [16309]

Malcolm Wicks: There is currently no commissioned or evaluated research being undertaken by the DTI in the constituency of Westmorland and Lonsdale.

Mr. David Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry when construction of an offshore wind farm on the Rhyl Flats is expected to commence. [16518]

Malcolm Wicks: At the present time construction at Rhyl Flats is forecast to begin in April 2007.

Mr. Jenkin: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what estimate he has made of the cost of extending the transmission and distribution systems to accommodate onshore wind generation up to 2010; and what proportion of this cost he expects will be transferred to consumers. [16306]

Malcolm Wicks: The transmission issues working group (TIWG) report issued by the DTI in June 2003 contained a number of scenarios for connecting renewable energy generation to the GB network. It assumed that no more than 1.1GW of onshore wind generation would be built onshore in England and Wales. It therefore estimated connection costs for a range of renewable generation scenarios in Scotland. The costs for 2GW, 4GW and 6GW (of all renewable technologies) were estimated at £520 million, £1235 million, £1495 million respectively.

In addition the Carbon Trust and DTI renewables network impacts study published in April 2004 estimated the costs of reinforcing the network in Scotland and the Scottish-English interconnector to connect 72 per cent. of the 2010 target to be in the order of £1.0 billion to £1.4 billion.
 
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