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30 Mar 2009 : Column 928W—continued
Forestry
Martin Horwood:
To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change what steps he plans to
take to ensure that an international agreement on reduced emissions from deforestation and degradation does not result in countries which have rainforest receiving funding for the replacement of natural forests with plantations. [266801]
Joan Ruddock [holding answer 26 March 2009]: The Bali Action Plan recognised the relevant provisions of the convention on biological diversity (CBD) as well as other international agreements to ensure that the maximum environmental benefits of paying for the carbon mitigation services of forests are achieved. The UK has been leading the way in looking at this. Dr. Bob Watson, DEFRA Chief Scientist, chaired a meeting of experts on biodiversity and climate change to provide biodiversity-relevant information to the UNFCCC. The first part of this work was already presented to the UNFCCC in Poznan, and the next meeting will be held in April.
Primary forests are generally more carbon dense, biologically diverse and resilient than other forest ecosystems. The December EU Council Conclusions supported the use of gross deforestation rates. This would include only primary forest in a country's forest reference level and so countries would not be compensated for replacing natural forests with plantations.
Martin Horwood: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change what funding his Department has provided to assist developing countries to participate in international negotiations associated with forestry and climate change. [266802]
Joan Ruddock [holding answer 26 March 2009]: The UK provided £40,000 to support developing countries' attendance at a meeting of the Coalition of Rainforest Nations(1) on developing a shared position on Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Degradation (REDD) ahead of the twelfth United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) Conference of the parties meeting in Nairobi in 2006. An additional £60,000 was provided by the UK to support developing countries' participation in a REDD international negotiators workshop in Indonesia in October 2007. These meetings were essential to make progress on the issue ahead of the thirteenth UNFCCC Conference of the Parties meeting in Bali in December 2007. The UK is supporting central African countries' consideration of their approach on forests and climate change in preparation for the climate change talks in Copenhagen in December this year.
(1) Countries include: Bangladesh, Belize, Bolivia, Central African Republic, Cameroon, Congo, Colombia, Costa Rica, DR Congo, Dominican Republic, Ecuador, Equatorial Guinea, El Salvador, Fiji, Gabon, Ghana, Guatemala, Guyana, Honduras, Indonesia, Kenya, Lesotho, Liberia, Madagascar, Malaysia, Nicaragua, Nigeria, Pakistan, Panama, Papua New Guinea, Paraguay, Peru, Samoa, Sierra Leone, Solomon Islands, Suriname, Thailand, Uruguay, Uganda, Vanuatu and Vietnam.
Forests: Carbon Emissions
Simon Hughes: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change what funding for forest protection as a measure of reducing levels of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere he has allocated to (a) plantations, (b) agriculture and (c) reforestation in each of the next three years. [265895]
Joan Ruddock: No specific funds are allocated by my Department towards domestic forestry protection. Funding for domestic forestry is the responsibility of the Forestry Commission and the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs.
Internationally, funds for carbon sequestration are not split into the three categories mentioned in the question, but significant funding is given to forestry. At the climate change negotiations in Poznan last December the UK announced up to £100 million to support such work. This is in addition to a £15 million contribution to the World Bank forest carbon partnership facility which assists developing countries in working out how they can participate in and benefit from evolving incentive mechanisms to avoid deforestation. The UK has also committed £60 million to help reduce deforestation and poverty in the Congo Basin.
Framework Convention on Climate Change Committee
Mr. Greg Knight: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change how many of his Department’s staff attended the recent press briefing in New York by Mr. Yvo de Boer, Executive Secretary of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change on the climate change conference in Copenhagen. [267489]
Joan Ruddock: No staff from the Department of Energy and Climate Change attended the recent press briefing in New York by Yvo de Boer on the international climate change conference in Copenhagen.
Fuel Poverty
Mr. Jenkins: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change how many households with at least one person with a long-term illness or disability were estimated to be in fuel poverty at the latest date for which information is available. [264532]
Joan Ruddock: The most recently available fuel poverty statistics relate to 2006. These show that in England, there were around 915,000 fuel poor households that contained somebody with a long-term sickness or disability.
Heating
Dr. Whitehead: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change what plans he has to include the replacement of circulation pumps in proposals to enhance home energy efficiency. [263612]
Joan Ruddock: A forthcoming implementing measure on circulators under the Ecodesign for Energy using Products (EuP) Framework Directive proposes stringent minimum efficiency standards for circulators from 2013. Our initial analysis of the Commission proposals suggests that such a measure would lead to significant energy savings. The measure is due to be voted on at a meeting of the Regulatory Committee on 27 March.
Natural Gas
Greg Clark: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change what the average daily demand for gas was in the last year for which figures are available; and what the average daily demand for gas was in (a) winter and (b) summer months of that year. [266730]
Mr. Mike O'Brien: Average daily demand can be calculated as total annual demand divided by the number of days in the year. The latest year for which figures are available is 2007.Data for 2008 will be available on 30 July 2009. Total natural gas demand in 2007 was 1,056,846 GWh. The average daily demand for natural gas in 2007 was, therefore, 2,895 GWh.
Total demand in the two winter quarters of 2007 was 652,906, giving an average daily demand of 3,587 GWh. Total demand in the two summer quarters of 2007 was 403,940 GWh, giving an average daily demand of 2,207 GWh.
Parliament: Energy Conservation
Dr. Gibson: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change if he will hold discussions with the authorities of (a) the House of Commons and (b) the House of Lords on measures to reduce energy loss from the Parliamentary estate. [264698]
Joan Ruddock: The Carbon Trust, which is sponsored and funded by the Department of Energy and Climate Change, is working with parliamentary estates staff in seeking to improve the energy efficiency of the parliamentary estate. Following the development of a carbon management plan for Portcullis House in March 2008, the Trust has been considering next steps with parliamentary estates on how to improve the energy efficiency of the Palace of Westminster.
In addition, the Office of Government Commerce’s Centre of Expertise in Sustainable Procurement (CESP) holds bi-monthly practitioner forums to support central Government staff working to improve the sustainability of the Government estate, its operations and procurement. CESP has recently engaged with the parliamentary estates team, providing support and guidance on sustainability targets. CESP has extended an invitation to the parliamentary estates team to attend future practitioner events.
Public Bodies
Greg Clark: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change which public bodies have received funding from his Department since its establishment; and how much each (a) has received in 2008-09 and (b) has been allocated for each year from 2009-10 to 2013-14. [266601]
Mr. Mike O'Brien: The public bodies with grant-in-aid funding in 2008-09 are tabled as follows:
| £ million | |
Grant-in-aid funding for those public bodies for 2009-10 to 2013-14 will be set by the annual Parliamentary Main Estimate.
Renewable Energy: Waste
Mr. Drew: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change if he will make an estimate of the potential contribution of gas produced by community-based anaerobic digesters to the supply of domestic energy. [266260]
Joan Ruddock: The Government have not carried out an analysis based on potential by size of anaerobic digestion plant but rather on technical potential available by feedstock. This initial analysis, published in the Government’s Consultation on a Renewable Energy Strategy, suggests that the anaerobic digestion of food waste, livestock slurries, sewage sludge and energy crops to produce biogas could, technically, contribute approximately 10-20 TWh of heat and power by 2020. This represents up to about 8 per cent. of the renewable energy we estimate will be required by 2020.
Warm Front Scheme
Greg Clark: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change how many Warm Front installations there have been in each of the last five years; what the cost to the public purse of such installations was in each such year; how many such installations have been undertaken by eaga and its subsidiaries in each such year; and at what cost. [256068]
Joan Ruddock: The number of households assisted by Warm Front in each of the last five years was as follows:
| Households assisted | |
| (1) To January 2009. |
The budget allocated by the Department to Warm Front in each of the last five years was as follows:
| £ million | |
When eaga won the competitive tender to deliver Warm Front across all of England in 2005, they agreed with the Department that up to 30 per cent. of scheme capacity could be undertaken by eaga's in-house contractors. The cost and percentage of scheme capacity completed by eaga's in-house contractors since this role was assumed in 2005 has been:
| 2005-06 | 2006-07 | 2007-08 | 2008-09 | |
| 12 months | 12 months | 12 months | 10 months | |
Charles Hendry: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change what estimate he has made of the proportion of successful applicants to the Warm Front scheme who topped-up the grant with funds from other sources in the latest period for which figures are available. [266079]
Joan Ruddock [holding answer 24 March 2009]: The latest period for which figures are available is April 2008 to February 2009. These figures are as follows:
| Scheme year 2008-09 | |
| Number | |
Charles Hendry: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change what estimate he has made of the percentage of successful applicants to the Warm Front scheme who were in fuel poverty in the latest period for which figures are available. [266080]
Joan Ruddock [holding answer 24 March 2009]: According to the English House Condition survey of 2006, at least 25 per cent. of all vulnerable households eligible for the scheme were fuel poor. It is likely, however, that many of the residual number may have otherwise fallen into, or have been near falling into fuel poverty, as a result of gas and electricity price increases in 2007 and 2008.
Charles Hendry: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change how many applications were made for grants under the Warm Front scheme in each year from 2000 to 2008. [266081]
Joan Ruddock [holding answer 24 March 2009]: Prior to 2005, the scheme was managed in separate areas by Eaga and Powergen TXU and consolidated figures are not available for this period. The number of applications made since the start of the current phase of the Warm Front scheme in 2005 are as follows:
| Scheme year | Total applications to Warm Front |
| (1) To 28 February | |
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