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30 Mar 2010 : Column 1014W—continued
Mr. David Anderson: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change what the average payback period is for the different types of commercially available domestic energy efficient technologies, including circulator pumps; and if he will make a statement. [324215]
Joan Ruddock: Information on payback periods for some technologies under the CERT regime is shown in the following table. Savings figures are approximate and are based on a typical three-bed semi-detached home. Installed costs are not the full economic cost of the work but incorporate a level of subsidy provided by suppliers under the CERT programme.
| Measure | Annual saving (£/yr) | Installed cost | Installed payback | Emissions savings (kgCO2/yr) |
The actual payback period is a function of the cost of the technology, the cost of installation, the actual number of running hours per year and the cost of the fuel saved per year. As these variables are influenced by commercial considerations, which are different for each technology, and as each installation is bespoke, the actual payback period will vary considerably.
Circulator pumps are consumers of energy, though some operate more efficiently than others, particularly those that can modulate their output to match the load. We do not have the information on the payback periods for circulator pumps.
Energy: Prices
Gregory Barker: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change what his most recent estimate is of the cost per unit to the customer of domestic gas and electricity in each year from 2010 to 2020. [325264]
Mr. Kidney: The Department does not make forecasts of gas and electricity retail prices since the Government do not take a view of what prices will be set in competitive markets.
However, the Department uses a range of assumptions of the future wholesale prices of fossil fuels in the DECC energy model representing different scenarios for future wholesale prices. The most recent published results of the DECC model projections including retail prices were published with the Low Carbon Transition Plan:
A copy of the Low Carbon Transition Plan projections will be placed in the Libraries of the House.
Environment Protection: Job Creation
Grant Shapps: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change how many green jobs have been created in each constituency since June 2007. [324850]
Joan Ruddock: The Government do not collate such data at a constituency level.
Government-commissioned research indicates that, in 2008-09, employment in the UK Low Carbon and Environmental Goods and Services (LCEGS) sector was approximately 910,000. This research includes regional level data and is available online at:
Natural Gas: Storage
John Hemming: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change if he will make it his policy to prohibit exports of gas in circumstances in which gas is also being removed from storage in the UK. [318582]
Mr. Kidney: No. One of the strengths of the British gas market-demonstrated in the coldest winter for some 30 years-is the resilience provided by its diverse and over-sized gas supply infrastructure. Arbitrarily constraining the use of one kind of supply infrastructure could have harmful unintended consequences-for example, in forcing the gas market to use more expensive supplies from time to time, and, in the longer term, in damaging the commercial incentives to construct gas supply infrastructure. Ultimately this could mean higher prices, and less reliable supplies, for consumers.
Power Stations: Carbon Emissions
Gregory Barker: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change what estimate he has made of the level of carbon emissions from power stations in the latest period for which figures are available. [325285]
Joan Ruddock: The provisional 2009 GHG national statistics released on 25 March 2010 show that emissions of CO2 from power stations were 150.5MtCO2.
For those power station emissions covered by the EU Emissions Trading System (EU ETS) operators must submit verified emissions data to the regulators for 2009 by 31 March 2010. In 2008 the UK power sector in the EU ETS emitted 172.4MtCO2. The 2009 data submitted by operators will be available on the European Commission website from early April 2010 and a summary report of checked UK data will be published later in the year.
Renewable Energy
Gregory Barker: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change what recent estimate he has made of the proportion of energy generated from renewable sources. [325245]
Mr. Kidney: The latest estimate was published in the 2009 edition of the Digest of UK Energy Statistics, and relates to the calendar year 2008. Based on the agreed methodology used to monitor the EU Renewable Energy Directive, 2.3 per cent. of energy was derived from renewable sources during 2008. The 2009 estimate will be published in the 2010 edition of the Digest of UK Energy Statistics.
Additionally, provisional 2009 data on electricity generation were published in the March 2010 edition of Energy Trends. This showed that when excluding an estimate for non-bio degradable waste use, around 6.6 per cent. of electricity was generated from renewable sources in 2009.
Sellafield
Simon Hughes: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change what progress has been made in the replacement of the highly active storage tanks at Sellafield. [325023]
Mr. Kidney: The Replacement Highly Active Storage Tank project has completed a detailed optioneering process to a point where a single solution has been selected. As part of this stage a preliminary safety case, which has been subject to regulatory assessment, has been prepared and an outline design has been completed and approved. Replacement tanks are forecast to commence active commissioning in 2018.
Wind Power
Lembit Öpik: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change whether his Department has undertaken research into the comparative effectiveness of wind turbines and fossil fuel generation in producing electricity; and if he will make a statement. [320976]
Mr. Kidney: The usual approach of assessing the effectiveness of different electricity generation technologies is to use the levelised cost of generating one megawatt hour (MWh) of electricity.
The analysis underpinning Renewable Energy Strategy, published in July 2009, used assumptions on the generating costs and wider impacts of wind generation. Full details of which are set out in Element (2009) and Redpoint/Trilemma (2009), which are available on the DECC website.
| Table 1: Levelised cost estimates for wind generation plant | |
| Technology | Levelised cost (£/MWh) |
The Committee on Climate Change (CCC) have published estimated levelised costs (£/MWh, in 2008 prices) associated with 1 MWh of electricity generated, for their December 2008 report:
Their analysis for fossil fuel plant is set out in table 2 and include construction, operation and maintenance costs and the cost of carbon allowances (EU ETS).
| Table 2: Levelised cost estimates for fossil fuel generation plant | |
| Technology | Levelised cost (£/MWh) |
It should be noted that the estimates of levelised costs for different types of electricity generation are highly sensitive to the assumptions used for capital costs, fuel and EU ETS allowance prices, operating costs, load factor, and other drivers. In reality, there are large uncertainties and ranges around these figures.
Business, Innovation and Skills
Advantage West Midlands
Mr. Purchase: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Business, Innovation and Skills how much Advantage West Midlands has allocated to the West Midlands since the agency's creation. [322260]
Ms Rosie Winterton: The Advantage West Midlands spent £2,177 million grant-in-aid from 1999-2000 to 2008-2009 and this has been put to very good use in the region. For example;
Business Link West Midlands (funded by AWM) assisted 139,000 regional businesses and helped create 6,500 business start ups during 2008/09.
Since 1999, when we created the RDAs, AWM has helped attract 880 inward investments resulting in safeguarding or creating 138,500 jobs in the process.
Since 2002 the West Midlands Manufacturing Advisory Service has helped more than 5000 manufacturing companies to improve efficiencies and in the process helped add £150 million to their turnover.
Apprentices: Cambridgeshire
Mr. Vara: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Business, Innovation and Skills how many Government funded apprenticeship places were available for young people in North West Cambridgeshire constituency in each of the last five years. [324754]
Kevin Brennan: Table 1 shows the number of Apprenticeship starts in North-West Cambridgeshire parliamentary constituency for learners aged under 19, from academic year 2004/05 to 2008/09.
| Table 1: Apprenticeship Programme starts in North-West Cambridgeshire parliamentary constituency by under 19 year olds, 2004/05 to 2008/09 | |
| North-West Cambridgeshire parliamentary constituency | |
| Notes: 1. Figures for North-West Cambridgeshire parliamentary constituency are rounded to the nearest 10. 2. Figures are based upon home postcode of the learner. 3. Figures are based on age at start of programme. Figures include learners aged 16 to 18-years-old and a small number of under 16s. 4. Figures include Apprenticeships, Advanced Apprenticeships and Higher Level Apprenticeships. Source: Individualised Learner Record | |
Information on the number of Apprenticeship starts is published in a quarterly statistical first release (SFR). The latest SFR was published on 25 March 2010:
Bankruptcy
Grant Shapps: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Business, Innovation and Skills how many individuals resident in each constituency (a) in total and (b) aged over 65 years were subject to a bankruptcy order in each quarter between Quarter 2 of 1997 and Quarter 4 of 2009. [324486]
Ian Lucas: Statistics for bankruptcy orders in England and Wales broken down by constituency and age are currently available on an annual basis only and from 2000 to 2008. Sub-national figures for 2009 will be published by the Insolvency Service later in 2010.
The table exceeds the size that can be incorporated within the answer and so will be placed in the Libraries of the House.
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