http://www.decc.gov.uk/en/content/cms/statistics/statistics.aspx
Total UK greenhouse gas emissions have been reduced by about 12 per cent. compared with 1997.
The UK is on track to cut emissions by nearly twice our Kyoto target (22 per cent. below 1990 levels by 2008-12 compared to the target of 12.5 per cent. set out under the Kyoto agreement).
The Climate Change Act in 2008 set a target of at least 80 per cent. reduction in greenhouse gases by 2050. Our first three carbon budgets legally bind the UK to a cut in greenhouse gases of 34 per cent. by 2018-22 against a 1990 baseline. In 2009, the UK's Low Carbon Transition Plan set out the long-term vision for climate change and energy and showing how we will meet the carbon budgets set out in the Climate Change Act.
In the same year, my Department published National Policy Statements on energy infrastructure which will lead to faster and fairer planning decisions and a diverse low carbon energy mix. An ambitious new framework for clean coal will also drive development of carbon capture and storage.
The UK's energy market is the most competitive in the EU and has attracted over £97 billion of investment from 1997 to 2008 (at 2005 prices). The UK also has the greatest installed capacity of offshore wind in the world.
Turning to household measures, since 2002, the Carbon Emissions Reduction Target (CERT) and its predecessors have helped over six million households with insulation measures with almost three million of these in a priority group of vulnerable households.
Government will be providing more financial assistance to help people generate their own heat and electricity in low carbon ways, where appropriate, through 'clean energy cashback' schemes:
Feed-in Tariffs (FITs) will be in place from April 2010. Payment for low carbon electricity produced by small-scale generators (including households), will be provided through the electricity
10 Feb 2010 : Column 1011W
supply companies to encourage the uptake of low carbon and renewable electricity generating technologies by households, businesses and communities.
The Renewable Heat Incentive (RHI), scheduled for launch in April 2011, will provide households, communities and businesses with payment for getting their heat from renewable sources. The detailed design of the RHI is currently out for consultation.
Warm Front scheme: Blaydon constituency
DECC's Warm Front scheme provides grants for households on qualifying income and disability related benefits to install a range of insulation and heating measures in their homes. Since 2000 the scheme has assisted 2092 households in the Blaydon constituency.
Departmental ICT
Mr. Hurd: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change how much his Department has spent on font licensing. [315506]
Joan Ruddock: The Department uses the range of fonts provided under a desktop IT service contract, and has spent nothing on additional font licensing.
Electricity Generation
David T.C. Davies: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change how much electricity wind farms have supplied to the National Grid in each of the last four weeks for which information is available. [312212]
Mr. Kidney: Electricity supplied by wind farms in each of the last four weeks is given in the following table. The data are made available by National Grid and only refer to wind which is operationally metered i.e. around half of the onshore wind farms and none of the offshore wind farms.
| Electricity supplied by wind during the last four weeks | |
| Week commencing | Operationally metered wind generation (MWh) |
A more complete coverage of wind generation, on a monthly basis, and with a two-month lag, can be found on DECC's Energy Statistics website, in table ET5.3.
Dr. Pugh: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change when he plans to publish the final electricity supply licence conditions for the purpose of introducing the feed-in tariff scheme. [314345]
Mr. Kidney: The Government's response to the summer 2009 consultation was published on Monday 1 February and is available from the DECC website at
http://decc.gov.uk/en/content/cms/consultations/elec_financial/elec_financial.aspx
Copies of the electricity supply licence conditions were placed in the Vote Office and the Printed Paper Office on Wednesday 3 February.
10 Feb 2010 : Column 1012W
Fuel Poverty: Hemsworth
Jon Trickett: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change what recent steps his Department has taken to reduce the level of fuel poverty in Hemsworth. [316615]
Mr. Kidney: The Government have a strong package of measures to help reduce fuel poverty among vulnerable households which includes pensioners. This is centred on tackling the three root causes of fuel poverty:
Reducing the demand for energy by improving home energy efficiency through schemes such as Warm Front, Carbon Emissions Reduction Target, Community Energy Saving programme and the Decent Homes Standard.
Between 2005 and the end of January 2010 Warm Front delivered energy efficiency measures to 2702 households in Hemsworth;
Putting in place and continuously looking to improve a regulatory framework that promotes competition as the main driver to ensure downward pressure on prices for consumers, and to improve licence conditions and strengthen Ofgem's powers through the Energy Bill; and
Raising real incomes, including through winter fuel payments and cold weather payments alongside the wider tax and benefit system and through benefit entitlement checks under the Warm Front scheme. Over 622 such checks have been undertaken in Hemsworth by Warm Front between 2005 and the end of November 2009, identifying an average weekly increase in income of £25.09 for those entitled to additional benefits.
We have also introduced legislation to implement mandated social price support schemes once the current voluntary agreement with suppliers comes to an end in 2011. These schemes will provide more of the most vulnerable consumers with help towards their energy costs. We have said that we are minded to focus the majority of the additional resources on older pensioner households on the lowest incomes as these households tend to have a high incidence of fuel poverty—over 50 per cent. of fuel poor households have a person over 60 living in them; their circumstances are relatively stable; and they are at the greatest risk of excess winter deaths.
Through our fuel poverty review we will continue to build and strengthen the evidence base on fuel poverty and explore better ways of targeting help at the most vulnerable fuel poor households.
Fuel Poverty: Scotland
Willie Rennie: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change what his latest estimate is of the number of households in fuel poverty in each constituency in Scotland. [316770]
Mr. Kidney: The matters raised in this question concern policy devolved to the Scottish Parliament and it is therefore the responsibility of Scottish Ministers.
Hemsworth
Jon Trickett: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change if he will set out, with statistical information related as directly as possible to Hemsworth constituency, the effects on Hemsworth of his Department's policies and actions since 2000. [316306]
10 Feb 2010 : Column 1013W
Joan Ruddock: The Department of Energy and Climate Change and its predecessors have implemented a large number of policies to address energy security, emissions reductions, low carbon economic growth and fuel poverty since 2000. Some of the key achievements are set out as follows, along with information on the number of households assisted by the Warm Front scheme in Hemsworth constituency. It would be disproportionately costly to provide statistical information on all the impact of all the policies to the level of detail requested, but statistical information covering energy and climate change is available at:
http://www.decc.gov.uk/en/content/cms/statistics/statlstics.aspx
Total UK greenhouse gas emissions have been reduced by about 12 per cent. compared with 1997.
The UK is on track to cut emissions by nearly twice our Kyoto target (22 per cent. below 1990 levels by 2008-12 compared to the target of 12.5 per cent. set out under the Kyoto agreement).
The Climate Change Act in 2008 set a target of at least 80 per cent. reduction in greenhouse gases by 2050. Our first three carbon budgets legally bind the UK to a cut in greenhouse gases of 34 per cent. by 2018-22 against a 1990 baseline. In 2009, the UK's Low Carbon Transition Plan set out the long-term vision for climate change and energy and showing how we will meet the carbon budgets set out in the Climate Change Act.
In the same year, my department published National Policy Statements on energy infrastructure which will lead to faster and fairer planning decisions and a diverse low carbon energy mix. An ambitious new framework for clean coal will also drive development of carbon capture and storage.
The UK's energy market is the most competitive in the EU and has attracted over £97 billion of investment from 1997 to 2008 (at 2005 prices). The UK also has the greatest installed capacity of offshore wind in the world.
Turning to household measures, since 2002, the Carbon Emissions Reduction Target (CERT) and its predecessors have helped over six million households with insulation measures with almost three million of these in a priority group of vulnerable households.
Government will be providing more financial assistance to help people generate their own heat and electricity in low carbon ways, where appropriate, through “clean energy cashback” schemes:
Feed-in Tariffs (FITs) will be in place from April 2010. Payment for low carbon electricity produced by small-scale generators (including households), will be provided through the electricity supply companies to encourage the uptake of low carbon and renewable electricity generating technologies by households, businesses and communities.
The Renewable Heat Incentive (RHI), scheduled for launch in April 2011, will provide households, communities and businesses with payment for getting their heat from renewable sources. The detailed design of the RHI is currently out for consultation.
Warm Front scheme: Hemsworth constituency
DECC's Warm Front scheme provides grants for households on qualifying income and disability related benefits to install a range of insulation and heating measures in their homes. Since 2005 the scheme has assisted 2694 households in the Hemsworth constituency.
Housing: Carbon Emissions
Chloe Smith: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change what discussions (a) he and (b) his officials have had on taking into account the longer term de-carbonisation of grid energy in the method used to calculate the carbon compliance rating of a dwelling; and if he will make a statement. [313341]
10 Feb 2010 : Column 1014W
Joan Ruddock [holding answer 26 January 2010]: Projections about grid decarbonisation are already taken into account in the carbon emission factors that are used to determine carbon compliance. The factor is currently calculated by projecting five years into the future, based on an average value of carbon intensity. Officials from DECC and CLG are working closely with the zero carbon hub's working group that has been set up to consider issues such as compliance and its assessment, as we move to zero carbon homes in 2016. The carbon intensity of grid energy, electricity, gas and the other fuels, is likely to be a factor in their deliberations. The workgroup is expected to make its recommendations later this year.
Mining: Pensions
Mr. David Anderson: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change how much employees paid in contributions to the Mineworkers' Pension Scheme between 1987 and 1994. [316315]
Mr. Kidney: The Mineworkers' Pension Scheme became a closed scheme in 1994. The scheme, rather than this Department, is the custodian of information relating to employee members' contributions prior to that time. I would suggest that my hon. Friend direct his inquiry to:
The Secretary
Mineworkers' Pension Scheme
Hussar Court
Hillsborough Barracks
Sheffield
S6 2GZ.
Renewable Energy
Simon Hughes: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change what assessment he has made of the potential for renewable energy generation (a) at and (b) in the vicinity of the site of Dungeness nuclear power station. [317016]
Mr. Kidney: The Department has not made any assessment of the potential for renewable energy generation at, or in the vicinity of, the site of the Dungeness nuclear power station. It is for the market to bring forward applications for potential sites for renewable energy projects. These are then considered by the relevant planning authority on a case-by-case basis.
Transport
Aviation
Norman Baker: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Transport pursuant to the answer of 25 January 2010, Official Report, column 523W, on aviation, how many of the domestic flights which travelled 300 miles or less in each of the last three years were lifeline flights. [316093]
Paul Clark: The following table shows the number of the domestic flights that departed from a UK reporting airport and which travelled 300 miles or less, and of these the number of lifeline flights, in each of the last three years.
10 Feb 2010 : Column 1015W
|
| Number of flight departures | Number of lifeline flight departures |
| Notes: 1. Flights by passenger aircraft only. 2. Total domestic flight departures are based on data from 58 reporting UK airports, including flights from the Isle of Man and Channel Island airports. Lifeline flights are based on flight information from 10 of these UK airports which report to the CAA. 3. Lifeline flights are those routes with public service obligations (PSOs) imposed by the UK published by the Civil Aviation Authority in ‘CAP 775: Air Services at UK Regional Airports—An Update on Developments’. Source: Based on data supplied to DFT by the Civil Aviation Authority | ||
Aviation: Baggage
Fiona Mactaggart: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Transport whether his Department has had discussions with its international counterparts on the weight of bags in transit through UK airports. [316113]
Paul Clark: Primary responsibility for occupational safety matters rests with the Health and Safety Executive (HSE). Bag weight is only one factor in the risks associated with manual handling and HSE works with European counterparts through the Senior Labour Inspectors Committee and the European Agency for Safety and Health at Work to mitigate these risks. In 2007, Labour Inspectorates in the EU launched an inspection and communication campaign to prevent lower back disorders, targeting the transport and healthcare sectors.
HSE also collaborates on reducing manual handling risk with the International Air Transport Association and other international aviation health and safety groups such as the International Aviation Handlers Association and the US based ARTEX group.
Fiona Mactaggart: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Transport what response he has made to the Health and Safety Executive's recommendation of a 23kg maximum weight for an item of checked baggage. [316114]
Paul Clark: The recommendation for a 23 kilo bag weight limit is from International Air Transport Association (IATA) and is supported by HSE as one aspect of industry risk reduction measures. Weight is only one factor in manual handling risk and HSE has worked with the industry and IATA to introduce, first, a recommended 32 kilo bag weight limit, then, in 2009, a recommended 23 kilo limit.
Fiona Mactaggart: To ask the Minister of State, Department or Transport what recent discussions he has had with representatives of baggage handlers at Heathrow Airport on the effects of their jobs on their health. [316111]