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18 Dec 2008 : Column 967W—continued
Military Bases: Long Marston
Mr. Maples: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence whether the Engineer Depot at Long Marston has been used for dumping, burying or otherwise disposing of (a) asbestos and (b) other hazardous materials. [245147]
Mr. Kevan Jones: The Engineer’s Depot at Long Marston was sold on 24 November 2004 and as part of the disposal process a series of risk based Land Quality Assessments were provided to the purchasers. These Assessments identified a range of contaminants including asbestos which will be dealt with by any developer associated with the former use of the site.
Disposal areas for materials had been located in the north western and southern corners of the site and a former burning ground for radium contaminants was identified on the western boundary. An appropriate level of remediation, to remove the radium contaminants which had been identified, was completed in late 2006.
Military Bases: Wales
Mr. David Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence if he will list the active military sites located in Wales. [244797]
Mr. Kevan Jones: Given the way the information is held, it will take officials a little longer to separately identify all of the active military sites in Wales from those that are not in use.
I will write to the hon. Member and place a copy of my letter in the Library of the House.
Navy: Piracy
Willie Rennie: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence for how many months Royal Navy ships undertaking anti-piracy patrols have been located in the Gulf of Aden in the last 24 months. [244961]
Mr. Peter Ainsworth: Since January 2007, the Royal Navy has had at least one vessel located in the Gulf of Aden and the wider Gulf region conducting counter destabilising activities, including counter piracy.
The Royal Navy has also provided HMS Northumberland since 8 December 2008 to carry out the first period of the EU anti piracy mission.
Furthermore, HMS Cumberland was involved with the Standing NATO Maritime Group 2 between October and December 2008, under a mandate which allowed them to conduct counter-piracy operations in the Gulf of Aden.
Queen Elizabeth II: Anniversaries
Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what plans his Department has to mark the Queen's Diamond Jubilee in 2012. [243973]
Mr. Kevan Jones: There are no specific plans as yet for the armed forces' involvement in events to mark the Diamond Jubilee of Her Majesty the Queen in 2012. We will be discussing this with the Royal Household in the coming months and details of events planned will be announced nearer the time.
RAF Machrihanish
Dr. Fox: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what plans there are to resurface the runway at MoD Machrihanish. [245108]
Mr. Kevan Jones: As the Machrihanish site is surplus to defence requirements and is being disposed of the Department has no plans to resurface the runway.
Dr. Fox: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence whether his Department plans to sell off MoD Machrihanish; and if he will make a statement. [245109]
Mr. Kevan Jones: I refer the hon. Member to my written ministerial statement on 6 October 2008, Official Report, column 1WS.
Trident
Mr. Hancock: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence pursuant to the answer to the hon. Member for Lewes of 10 November 2008, Official Report, column 777W, on AWE Aldermaston, whether his Department is considering financing any elements of the programme to replace the Trident nuclear warhead through private finance initiatives. [244306]
Mr. Quentin Davies: There is no programme to develop a new UK nuclear warhead. There is, however, work being undertaken to inform decisions, likely to be taken in the next Parliament, on whether and, if so, how we might need to refurbish or replace our current warhead. There are no plans to introduce private finance initiatives to fund this work.
Energy and Climate Change
Aviation: Exhaust Emissions
Mr. Todd: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change what estimate he has made of the annual carbon dioxide emissions of dedicated air freight traffic within the UK; and if he will make a statement. [242222]
Joan Ruddock: Estimates for the annual carbon dioxide emissions of dedicated air freight within the UK are obtained from The Department for Transport’s 2007 publication “UK Air Passenger Demand and CO2 Forecasts”, this is available on the DFT website, at:
Table G.10: ‘CO2 emissions at airport level 2005 and 2030’ estimates total CO2 emissions from dedicated air freight flights departing UK airports in 2005 to be 0.6MTCO2. This estimate includes all dedicated air freight flights departing UK airports, not just flights operating from one UK airport to another.
Carbon Emissions
Jo Swinson: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change what consultation with businesses his Department (a) has undertaken and (b) plans to undertake on the implementation of the carbon reduction commitment. [240879]
Joan Ruddock [holding answer 8 December 2008]: Two formal public consultations on the carbon reduction commitment were undertaken in November 2006 and June 2007 and a further consultation is planned before next spring.
Alongside the public consultations, the Government and the devolved Administrations held workshops attended by over 500 individuals, including those from businesses.
Further engagement with businesses, public sector organisations and other stakeholders is planned in the run up to the implementation of the scheme.
Jo Swinson: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change what carbon dioxide reductions are expected as a result of the carbon reduction commitment in its first five years; and how those targets have been calculated. [240960]
Joan Ruddock [holding answer 8 December 2008]: Analysis commissioned by the Government on the carbon dioxide emissions reductions achievable under the Carbon Reduction Commitment (CRC) conservatively estimates that the scheme could achieve cost effective savings of 0.5 million tonnes of carbon (MtC) per year by 2015 and 1.2MtC (or 4.4 MtCO2) per year by 2020. These figures were calculated by looking at the relative cost of abatement strategies for the participants of the CRC, to determine likely reductions under different carbon price scenarios.
Actual emissions reductions will ultimately depend on the cap on emissions set from 2013 onwards. The Committee on Climate Change will advise on the level of the cap for the CRC, taking into account the information established in the introductory phase, and the Government's overall emissions reductions targets.
Jo Swinson: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change what recent representations he has received from businesses about the effects on their cash-flow of the carbon reduction commitment. [240961]
Joan Ruddock [holding answer 8 December 2008]: The Government consulted in November 2006 and June 2007 with respect to the Carbon Reduction Commitment, and at these times some stakeholders expressed concern regarding cash flow implications.
The Carbon Reduction Commitment will be broadly revenue neutral to participants as a whole. All the money raised from the sale of allowances will be recycled back to participants. In response to concerns over cash flow the proposed length of time between the sale of allowances and recycling of auction revenues has been reduced from 18 months to six months. This change has been generally welcomed by stakeholders. In order to maintain the scheme's financial incentives, analysis has indicated that a gap of at least six months must be maintained between the sale of allowances and the return of participants' money. Participants will be able to further reduce the cash flow implications of buying allowances by reducing their carbon emissions, and therefore requiring fewer allowances.
Mr. Hunt: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change what estimate he has made of the level of (a) UK and (b) global carbon dioxide emissions in each of the next three years; what plans he has to encourage other governments to achieve emissions reductions in the short term; and if he will make a statement. [242421]
Joan Ruddock: Estimates of the projected annual emissions of carbon dioxide to 2011 are shown in the following tables for (a) the UK and (b) globally.
The UK projected reductions are shown relative to 1990 levels, both with and without the impact of the EU Emissions Trading Scheme.
Projections for 2008 to 2011 were published in November 2008, and represent an update on the “Central Scenario” projection published in the Energy White Paper in May 2007.
According to the International Energy Agency, global carbon dioxide emissions will rise on average by 1.6 per cent. between 2008 and 2011.
The UK Government will continue to work with other governments through the United Nations Climate Change process, the EU, G8, other forums and bilaterally to reach a global agreement that reduces global greenhouse emissions.
| Table (b) Global CO 2 emissions 2008 to 2011 | ||||
| MtCO 2 | ||||
| 2008 | 2009 | 2010 | 2011 | |
|
Global CO2 emissions, baseline (business as usual projection) 2008 | ||||
| Source: IEA, World Energy Outlook, 2008. | ||||
Carbon Emissions: Combined Heat and Power
Greg Clark: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change what estimate he has made of the likely effect on UK carbon emissions of replacing all UK household boilers with combined heat and power boilers. [242482]
Joan Ruddock: The Government have been funding trials of combined heat and power systems through the Carbon Trust. The results of these trials suggest that, with currently available technology, micro-CHP boilers would only provide cost-effective reductions in carbon emissions in up to 20 per cent. of homes—generally larger dwellings with above average heat demand.
The replacement of all UK household boilers with domestic micro-CHP boilers is unlikely to prove cost-effective. But, as an illustration, if 5 million units were installed in the most appropriate homes, CO2 savings would be around 1.5 MtCO2 per year, at today’s carbon intensity of grid electricity.
A longer term influence comes from the predicted decrease in the carbon intensity of grid electricity, due to changes in the mix of power generation. This will reduce the CO2 savings per unit, and hence also the cost-effectiveness, although technology developments and changing costs will also affect this.
Carbon Emissions: EU Countries
Greg Clark: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change what recent estimate he has made of the projected reduction in carbon dioxide emissions relative to 1990 levels that will be achieved by 2010 by (a) the UK and (b) the EU, excluding the impact of the EU emissions trading scheme. [242492]
Joan Ruddock: Estimates of the projected annual emissions of carbon dioxide to 2010 are shown in the following tables for (a) the UK and (b) the EU. The reductions shown are relative to 1990 levels and for the UK exclude the impact of the EU Emissions Trading Scheme. However, there are no figures available for the EU without inclusion of the impact of the EU Emissions Trading Scheme, therefore those presented include this.
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