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20 Oct 2009 : Column 1436W—continued
and new initiatives to incentivise low carbon energy generation; Feed in Tariffs for electricity and the Renewable Heat Incentive available from 2010 and 2011 respectively
The Carbon Emissions Reduction Target (CERT) is the principal driver of energy efficiency improvements in existing homes in Great Britain. We have recently increased the target suppliers must deliver by an additional 20 per cent. to save 185 million tonnes of CO2. In addition we intend to extend this scheme for a further 21 months from the current end in April 2011 out to the end of 2012 delivering more benefits.
We also recently launched the Community Energy Saving Programme (CESP) trialling the delivery of energy efficiency measures following a house-by-house, street-by-street approach, and focusing on low income communities.
In the non-domestic sector, the Carbon Reduction Commitment Energy Efficiency Scheme (CRCEES) is a new energy efficiency scheme that will be introduced in April 2010. It aims to reduce energy consumption in the business and public sector workplaces through both behaviour and infrastructure change. The CRC will build on the existing Climate Change Levy (CCL) and Climate Change Agreements (CCAs) which encourage businesses to use energy more efficiently and reducing their emissions.
Nuclear Generation Sites
Simon Hughes: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change what analysis the Government has conducted of the effects of (a) sea level rises and (b) storm surges on present and planned civil nuclear generation sites over the next (i) 100, (ii) 200 and (iii) 300 years; and if he will make a statement. [294036]
Mr. Kidney [holding answer 19 October 2009]: Ensuring the safety of existing nuclear power stations from sea level rise and flood risk (including storm surge) is carried out by the site operators, overseen by the Nuclear Installations Inspectorate (NII).
The nuclear licensing regime enforced by the NII requires existing site operators to ensure their sites are safe against sea level rise and storm surge throughout the life of the nuclear power stations, including during decommissioning. As a condition of each nuclear site licence the operator must review the site safety case at regular intervals (typically on a 10 year basis), taking account of the most recent climate change projections and to make any necessary modifications to flood defences and operating arrangements.
For new nuclear power stations the Government is running a Strategic Siting Assessment (SSA) to identify sites that are potentially suitable for deployment by 2025. The government response to the consultation on the SSA criteria and process
outlined that nominated sites would be assessed against their capacity to be protected against flood risk, tsunami and storm surge throughout its lifetime, including the potential effects of climate change, allowing for the safe
and secure storage of all the spent fuel and intermediate level waste produced from operation and decommissioning until it can be sent for final disposal in a geological disposal facility (GDF). The nominations are available at:
The SSA will look at the capacity of nominated sites to withstand flood risk and storm surge to 2100 using climate change modelling data from UK Climate Projections 09 (UKCP09).
Predictions of potential climate change impacts become less certain the further into the future the assessments are for, and it is not practicable to consider for existing or potential stations beyond 2100 at this stage. However, the SSA assessment will also consider the adaptability of the proposed flood protection mechanism to changes in the demand to give confidence that if the current predictions are revised, modifications to the defences are practicable, and as set out above all licensed stations are subject to periodic review which takes the most recent climate change projections into account.
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