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Sustainable Energy (China/India)
Mr. Andrew Smith: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what recent discussions he has had with the Governments of (a) China and (b) India on sustainable energy. [17580]
Malcolm Wicks: My right hon. Friend the Secretary of State accompanied the my right hon. Friend the Prime Minister at the EU and UK summits with China and India on 5–6 and 7–8 September. Sustainable development was an important part of the outcome.
The EU-China summit established a China-EU partnership on climate change. It will promote sustainable development though co-operation on the development, deployment and transfer of low carbon technology, including advanced near-zero-emissions coal technology through carbon capture and storage. The EU-India summit launched an Initiative on Clean Development and Climate Change, with the aim of promoting cleaner technologies and their use. A Joint Statement on the summit with China and the Political Declaration on the India-EU Strategic Partnership can be found on the EU website at:
Telecommunications
Mrs. Spelman: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry (1) what plans Ofcom has to auction telecommunications licences for the 1.78 GHz and 1.88GHz bands; and if he will make a statement; [17504]
(2) what estimate he has made of the number and size of masts required for DVB-H broadcasts to mobile phones; [17505]
(3) what plans the Government have to allocate radio spectrum for DVB-H broadcasts to mobile phones; [17506]
(4) what radio frequencies are used by (a) 2G, (b) 2.5G, (c) 3G, (d) Wifi and (e) WiMax communications equipment. [17507]
Alun Michael: The matter raised is the responsibility of the Office of Communications (Ofcom). Ofcom is the independent regulator for the communications sector, deriving its main powers and duties directly from statute rather than by delegation from my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State, and accountable to Parliament in its own right. Accordingly, my officials have asked the chief executive of Ofcom to respond directly to the hon. Member and to send me a copy of his response. Copies of the chief executive's letter will also be placed in the Libraries of both Houses.
UK Trade and Investment (Nigeria)
Malcolm Bruce:
To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry pursuant to the answer of 30 June
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2005, Official Report, column 1771W, on UK Trade and Investment, if he will place in the Library the off-the-shelf lists of companies that could act as agents in relation to Nigeria provided by UK Trade and Investment to UK companies. [15496]
Ian Pearson: UK Trade and Investment does not hold any off-the-shelf lists of potential Nigerian agents.
UK-Europe Gas Interconnector
John Hemming: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry why the UK-Europe gas Interconnector was unable to import at full capacity during winter 2004–05; and what assessment he has made of the performance of the facility in 2005–06. [17557]
Malcolm Wicks: The flows of gas through the Interconnector are driven by the price differentials between the UK and the continent. The direction of the flows during winter 2004–05 was as expected, given the differentials. National Grid, in their Winter Outlook Report 2005–06, have indicated that they have adopted conservative assumptions that imports through the Interconnector for winter 2005–06 will be an average level of 42mcm/d, with a maximum capacity of 48mcm/d. The report is published on the Ofgem website at www.ofgem.gov.uk/temp/ofgem/cache/cmsattach/12493_214_05.pdf.
John Hemming: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what the UK daily natural gas import capacity via pipeline or LNG was during the winter of 2004–05; and what the estimated import capacity for the coming winter of 2005–06 is. [17558]
Malcolm Wicks: Total import capacity for winter 2004–05 was 60mcm/d. For the winter 2005–06 it is estimated at 95mcm/d. Further information, in particular concerning the likely evolution of UKCS gas production levels and our gas import capability, can be found in the Secretary of State's First Report to Parliament on Security of Gas and Electricity Supply in Great Britain". This was published in July 2005, and is available on the DTI website, at http://www.dti.gov.uk/energy/publications/policy/sec_supply_first_report.pdf.
Uranium Reserves
Norman Baker: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what estimate he has made of the number of years' global supply of uranium reserves; and if he will make a statement. [17185]
Malcolm Wicks: The Department of Trade and Industry has made no estimate of the global supply of uranium or of the number of years that uranium could be supplied.
The Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) Nuclear Energy Agency and the International Atomic Energy Agency has published a report examining uranium production. The report, Uranium 2003: Resources, Production and Demand (2004 edition can be viewed at the OECD Bookshop website under Statistics Publications—http://www.oecdbookshop.org/oecd/index.asp?lang=en)
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Websites
Sarah Teather: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry if he will list the websites that come under his Department's responsibility; what the cost was of each in the last year for which figures are available; andhow many visitors there were to each site in that year. [15899]
Alan Johnson: Information about the Department's websites and their cost is not held centrally and to gather it would involve disproportionate cost. The support cost for the main departmental website (www.dti.gov.uk) is included in the overall service charge paid monthly under the IT service contract in place since 1 April 1999. There is no separation of website costs in this charge.
Visitors to the main DTI website have been monitored on a consistent basis since August 2004. In the year September 2004 to August 2005, we recorded six million unique visitors and 33.4 million page impressions.
Wind Farms
Mr. David Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what assessment was made by the Department prior to granting consent to the construction of an offshore wind farm on the Rhyl Flats to the potential impact on (a) the visual amenity of residents of the North Wales coast, (b) shipping, (c) avian wildlife and (d) marine wildlife. [16517]
Malcolm Wicks: A comprehensive environmental statement was provided by the project developers to support the consent application for the wind farm at Rhyl Flats and this was available to stakeholders and members of the public for their information and comment.
When taking the decision to grant consent for the project, Ministers considered the results of the public consultation which included responses from the Countryside Council for Wales, the Government's statutory adviser on landscape and nature conservation issues in Wales, the RSPB, the Maritime and Coastguard Agency and others, including other Government Departments. None of the organisations mentioned objected to the grant of consent for this wind farm.
Adam Price: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what recent Government studies have been undertaken into low frequency noise and vibration emitted by wind turbines; and if he will make a statement. [17244]
Malcolm Wicks: The following recent studies have been commissioned and examined by the Department :
Assessment of the Effects of Noise and Vibration from Offshore Wind Farms on Marine Wildlife, published 2001, and
Microseismic and infrasound monitoring of low frequency noise and vibrations from Wind Farms on the Eskdalemuir Seismic Array. (Joint study with MOD and BWEA), published 2005.
One other study 'The measurement and assessment of low frequency noise from three UK wind farms' has been commissioned and should be available this year.
Adam Price: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what definition his Department uses of low frequency noise and vibration in relation to wind turbines; and if he will make a statement. [17245]
Malcolm Wicks: Low frequency noise is generally regarded to mean noise in the range of 10 to 200 hertz (HZ). There is no British Standard for measuring low frequency noise and most European countries tend to have their own criterion.
The current accepted assessment methodology for low frequency noise is ETSU-R-97. It is used by planners for guidance and incorporates a robust refinement of the BS4142 (which is a general noise assessment methodology) appropriate to wind farm noise assessment. ETSU-R-97 provides indicative noise levels thought to offer a reasonable degree of protection to wind farm neighbours, without placing unreasonable restrictions on wind farm developers.
Vera Baird: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry (1) what plans his Department has for (a) visits to the area affected by the Teesside off-shore windfarm and (b) discussions with people likely to be affected by the proposed windfarm; [15254]
(2) what mechanisms are in place to ensure transparency in the decision-making process for the Teesside off-shore windfarm; and if he will make a statement; [15320]
(3) how local views will be taken into account in theplanning process for the Teesside off-shore windfarm; [15321]
(4) what criteria his Department will use to balance the need for renewable energy with (a) economic, (b) environmental and (c) amenity effects of the proposed windfarm in Teesside. [15322]
Malcolm Wicks: In taking a decision on an application for consent under section 36 of the Electricity 1989, Ministers will balance the need to meet the Government's targets for renewable energy generation, and thereby reduce carbon emission, against potential local impacts. It is not possible to specify how impacts will be taken into account in individual cases as the implications of different schemes will vary from one project to another. However, the consents process involves public consultation and all representations will be fully considered in deciding whether to grant consent for the project, to turn down the consent request or hold a public inquiry.
Where relevant, measures to mitigate impacts will also be considered and can be translated into consent conditions. The Department has funded research and produced guidance on the impacts of offshore wind farms and mitigation measures that might be put in place. The determination of a consent application is communicated to the applicant by way of a decision letter. The letter sets out the rationale for the determination and will include assessments of how any objections to the application have been considered. The
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letter will also be sent to those people and organisations that have made representations during the application process and will be made available more widely on request.
Officials from the Department of Trade and Industry will visit the Redcar area as part of the consideration of the consent application for the Teesside offshore wind farm. Meetings with representatives of local interest groups and other stakeholders will form part of the visit.
Vera Baird: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry whether feedback to Ministers from developers relating to the Teeside off-shore windfarm from (a) statutory consultees and (b) non-statutory consultees, will be placed in the public domain (i) before and (ii) after the planning decision is taken; and if he will make a statement. [15645]
Malcolm Wicks: There are no plans to put such correspondence in the public domain either before or after the consents decision is taken. However, the decision letter that is sent to the applicant will address all relevant issues including any that arise from such feedback. The decision letter will be made available to other interested parties.
It is also the case that the full environmental statement supporting the application was made available for public comment.
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