Carbon Emissions: EU Action
Mr Raab: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change what assessment he has made of the changes to UK carbon emission targets that would be necessary to comply with an EU reduction target of 30 per cent. [89225]
Gregory Barker: Changes to UK greenhouse gas (GHG) emission reduction targets will be discussed and agreed among EU member states as part of the negotiation process for moving to a 30% EU GHG reduction target.
We cannot prejudge the outcome of this negotiation but we are willing to deliver our fair share of a higher EU 2020 GHG reduction target (currently this is at least 34% cut on 1990 levels) and that we would need to tighten our carbon budgets accordingly.
Coal: Imports
Tom Greatrex: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change how much (a) coal and (b) gas was imported in (i) 2007, (ii) 2008, (iii) 2009 and (iv) 2010; and what estimate he has made of the effect of renewable electricity generation on levels of imports of (A) coal and (B) gas in the period from 2010 to 2020. [89517]
Charles Hendry: The amounts of coal and gas imported into the UK for each year between 2007 and 2010 are shown in the following table:
| 2007 | 2008 | 2009 | 2010 | |
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The Department has made no estimates of the impact of renewable electricity generation on the levels of imports of coal and gas.
Electricity
Zac Goldsmith: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change what consideration he has given to including measures to encourage energy efficiency in his Department's technical update to its White Paper on electricity market reform. [89504]
Charles Hendry: Energy efficiency will play a central role in tackling climate change and ensuring secure and affordable energy supplies. The Department demonstrates clear commitment to promoting energy efficiency through flagship policies such as the Green Deal and energy company obligation.
The aim of the electricity market reform (EMR) technical update was to set out, at a high level, the Government's choice of model for the capacity mechanism and institutional framework for delivering the EMR package. The technical update does also confirm that we are progressing the commitment in the EMR White Paper to assess whether there is sufficient support and incentives to make efficiency improvements in electricity usage and consider whether there is a need for appropriate additional measures. This assessment will complete by summer 2012.
Electricity: Imports
David Mowat: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change what proportion of the electricity consumed in the UK was generated outside the UK in each of the last four quarters for which figures are available; and what proportion he expects to be generated outside the UK in (a) 2012 and (b) 2013. [89626]
Charles Hendry: The following table shows the proportion of electricity consumed in the UK that is generated outside (ie imports).
| UK electricity imports (GWh) | UK electricity demand (GWh) | Imports share of UK electricity demand (percentage) | |
| Source: Energy Trends, December 2011, table ET 5.2, available at: http://www.decc.gov.uk/en/content/cms/Statistics/energy_stats/source/electricity/electricity.aspx | |||
The following table shows the proportion of electricity consumed in the UK that is projected to be imported in 2012 and 2013 in DECC's latest published emissions projections published in October 2011, which can be seen at:
http://www.decc.gov.uk/en/content/cms/about/ec_social_res/analytic_projs/en_emis_projs/en_emis_projs.aspx
These projections are based on one possible scenario incorporating a number of assumptions and do not take account of Government plans for electricity market reform. Using different assumptions would lead to different results.
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| Projected UK electricity imports (GWh) | Projected UK electricity demand (GWh) | Projected imports share of UK electricity demand (percentage) | |
Energy
Mr Sanders: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change when he expects to publish his Department’s statistics for energy consumption at sub-national level during 2010. [89515]
Charles Hendry: Table 1 details release dates for sub-national energy consumption datasets relating to 2010. These data, along with previous releases, will be available on the Department’s website at:
http://www.decc.gov.uk/en/content/cms/statistics/energy_stats/regional/regional.aspx
| Table 1: Timetable of release dates for sub-national energy consumption statistics | ||
| Fuel | Geography | Release date |
| (1) Data for electricity consumption at local authority level for 2010 have been delayed from 22 December 2011 to 29 March 2012 while further investigations of some data quality issues are resolved. | ||
Energy Performance Certificates
Barry Gardiner: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change whether he has considered classifying property in Energy Performance Certificate bands F and G as Category 1 hazards under the Housing Health and Safety Rating System. [86457]
Andrew Stunell: I have been asked to reply on behalf of the Department for Communities and Local Government.
When carrying out assessments under the Housing Health and Safety Rating System, local authorities may assess the dwellings for excess cold using their energy rating. The Rating System Operating Guidance recommends using a standard assessment procedure 2001 rating of 35 or below, which includes all properties with an Energy Performance rating of G and the majority of those with an F rating, as the threshold for consideration as a Category 1 hazard where the local authority has a duty to take action.
Environmental Health Officers will also make a judgment about the type of property, the inhabitants and what
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type of heating system has been installed before coming to their conclusions about whether a Category 1 hazard exists and what remedial action is necessary. If notice is served there is a right of appeal through the Residential Property Tribunal who will consider if the notice is reasonable.
We have no plans to review the operation of the Housing Health and Safety System or its associated enforcement regime.
Energy Costs: Older People
Mr Carswell: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change (1) what steps the Government is taking to increase the affordability of energy for elderly people during the winter; [89302]
(2) what steps he plans to take to make energy bills more affordable for elderly people. [89613]
Gregory Barker: The Government are committed to helping people, especially low income vulnerable households, heat their homes more affordably.
The Warm Home Discount scheme will assist 2 million households each year, including over 600,000 pensioners in receipt of pension credit guarantee credit who will receive a Core Group discount of £120 off their electricity bill this winter, automatically without having to apply for it.
In addition, we continue to fund the Warm Front scheme, providing low income vulnerable households, living in energy inefficient properties, with energy efficient heating and insulation measures. We are also requiring suppliers to provide energy efficiency measures to low income vulnerable households through the Carbon Emissions Reduction Target, Super Priority Group.
In addition, the Department for Work and Pensions provides pensioner households with winter fuel payments to help with additional heating costs during the winter. Cold weather payments are also made to low income and vulnerable households where there is an average temperature of 0°C or below for seven consecutive days. These payments have been permanently increased to £25 per week and in winter 2010/11 over 17 million cold weather payments were paid in Great Britain worth an estimated £430 million.
In the future, the Green Deal and new Energy Company Obligation (ECO) will be one of our key policies. ECO will provide “affordable warmth” to low income vulnerable households through heating and insulation measures.
Forests: Developing Countries
Zac Goldsmith: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change what assessment his Department has made of recent research into advance market commitments in support of reducing emissions from deforestation and forest degradation in developing countries. [89436]
Gregory Barker: Advance market commitments are one of the mechanisms that we have been exploring in developing a programme of spend for UK REDD+ finance under the UK's £2.9 billion International Climate Fund. We will be providing more detail on the UK's proposed REDD+ programme later in the spring.
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Green Deal Scheme
Gordon Banks: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change whether consequential work required as a result of a Green Deal assessment will be covered by Green Deal financing; and if he will make a statement. [89797]
Gregory Barker: No additional requirements for work to be completed are incurred simply by undertaking the assessment: the consumer is able to decide what they wish to install from the recommended list of measures. We are proposing to allow Green Deal providers to include preparatory and unexpected costs related to the installation of Green Deal measures, in Green Deal finance, up to the limit the Golden Rule principle allows. The Green Deal Code of Practice seeks to ensure customers are notified of any additional costs as soon as is reasonably practical.
Gordon Banks: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change what steps will be taken in the event that a Green Deal assessor is reported for providing partial advice; and if he will make a statement. [89798]
Gregory Barker: The code of practice the Government will put in place for Green Deal assessors will require the assessment and associated advice to be impartial. Appropriate sanctions will be applied for non-compliance such as suspension or withdrawal of licences to operate under the Green Deal.
Natural Gas: Pipelines
Karen Lumley: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change what reports he has received on progress with the Nabucco project; and what his policy is on the project. [88828]
Charles Hendry: Nabucco is one of four potential pipeline projects under consideration by the Shah Deniz consortium, who own the Shah Deniz II gas reserves in Azerbaijan, to bring the gas to the heart of Europe. The pipeline choice is for the Shah Deniz consortium and the UK Government have received no reports from the consortium on progress. The UK supports the development of a commercially viable route for delivery of gas from the Caspian to Europe through a ‘Southern Corridor' gas pipeline.
Paul Flynn: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change when he proposes to publish the results of his Department's consultation on the implementation of changes to the Paris and Brussels Conventions on nuclear third party liability. [88861]
Charles Hendry: The Government intend to publish the response to this consultation in the near future.
Postal Services: Carbon Emissions
Frank Dobson: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change what assessment has been made of the effect of journeys to deliver goods ordered online to domestic premises on emissions of carbon dioxide. [88569]
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Gregory Barker: No specific assessment has been made of the effect of journeys to deliver goods ordered on-line to domestic premises on emissions of carbon dioxide.
Renewable Energy
Tom Greatrex: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change how much electricity was generated by renewable energy projects in (a) England, (b) Scotland, (c) Wales and (d) the UK in (i) 2007, (ii) 2008, (iii) 2009, (iv) 2010 and (v) 2011. [89491]
Charles Hendry: The following table shows how much electricity was generated by renewable energy projects in England, Scotland, Wales and the UK in 2007 to 2010. Provisional data for 2011 will be available on 29 March 2012, and final data by 27 September 2012.
| Electricity generated from renewable energy projects | ||||
| GWh | ||||
| England | Scotland | Wales | UK | |
Mr Gregory Campbell: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change what steps he has taken to monitor progress in implementing the Government's objective of securing 15 per cent. of all energy used from renewable sources by 2020, in each of the devolved regions of the UK. [89974]
Gregory Barker: The Department publishes the Digest of United Kingdom Energy Statistics (DUKES) each July. This presents the results of monitoring renewable energy consumption across the UK. In 2010 (the latest data available in DUKES 2011), 3.3% of the UK's energy came from renewable sources.
While a breakdown is not available for progress in renewable energy in each of the devolved regions of the UK, the December 2011 issue of DECC's quarterly Energy Trends publication provides data for renewable electricity generation in each of the devolved regions. Table Al of December 201l's Energy Trends shows the share of renewable electricity generation across the devolved regions of the UK for 2007-10. For 2010, this was 19.1% in Scotland, 5.1% in Wales, 10.3% in Northern Ireland and 4.7% in England.
DUKES and Energy Trends are available from our website at:
http://www.decc.gov.uk/en/content/cms/statistics/publications/publications.aspx
Renewables Obligation
Tom Greatrex: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change what estimate he has made of the average amount added to a domestic energy bill by renewables obligation payments in (a) 2007, (b) 2008, (c) 2009, (d) 2010 and (e) 2011. [89589]
Charles Hendry:
The renewables obligation (RO) places the obligation of supporting investment in large-scale renewable electricity generation on energy suppliers. It
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is expected that energy suppliers will pass the cost of this obligation onto their various energy customers through their energy bills.
To help ensure that policies achieve their objectives cost-effectively and affordably the Government introduced a framework to control levy funded spending by DECC at Budget 2011. This framework, covering the renewables obligation, feed-in tariff scheme and the Warm Home Discount, forms part of the Government's public spending framework which the Treasury has responsibility for. The Government have been reviewing the levels of support (‘RO bands’) under the renewables obligation, with a focus on delivering renewable energy to help meet the 2020 renewables target in a cost-effective manner in order to minimise costs to consumers.
An estimated average amount added directly to a domestic energy bill by RO payments in each year between 2007 and 2011 is presented in the following table. These estimates are based on annual costs of the RO from annual reports published by Ofgem multiplied by the share of total UK electricity demand in each year accounted for by households(1) divided by the number of UK households in each year(2). The actual cost of the RO on each household's energy bill in a given year may differ depending on how energy suppliers pass on the costs of the policy to their customers.
| Estimated average amount added directly to domestic energy bill by RO payments, 2007-11 (real 2010-11 prices) | |
| Estimated average RO cost on domestic energy bill (£) | |
| Note: Ofgem has not published the costs for 2011 so numbers are based on the estimated RO cost for 2011. | |
On 23 November 2011, alongside the Annual Energy Statement, DECC published an assessment of the cumulative impact of climate change and energy policies on energy prices and bills in 2011, 2020 and 2030, which is available online at:
http://www.decc.gov.uk/en/content/cms/meeting_energy/aes/impacts/impacts.aspx
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The headline message for the household sector was that the average household energy bill in 2020 was estimated to be around 7% lower than it would have been in the same year if energy and climate change policies were not introduced. This result is based on DECC's fossil fuel price scenario consistent with a wholesale gas price of 68p/th in 2020 (in real 2010 prices).
(1) Digest of UK Energy Statistics, available online at:
http://www.decc.gov.uk/en/content/cms/statistics/energy_stats/energy_stats.aspx
(2) Department for Communities and Local Government (DCLG) projections.
Solar Power: Feed-in Tariffs
Mr Hanson: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change what estimate he has made of the cost to the public purse of legal proceedings arising from the decision to reduce feed-in tariffs for solar energy. [88925]
Gregory Barker: I estimate that the Government have incurred costs of approximately £58,000 to date. In the event that we are successful on appeal we would expect to recover all, or a substantial proportion, of our costs.
Wind Power
Mr Wallace: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change what guidance his Department issues to ensure that the location of wind farms is in conformity with local plans. [89131]
Robert Neill: I have been asked to reply on behalf of the Department for Communities and Local Government.
It is a legal requirement that planning applications must be determined in accordance with the development plan unless material considerations indicate otherwise. We published a consultation draft of the new National Planning Policy Framework in July 2011 which sets out our policies for renewable energy (including wind farms), the preparation of local plans and development management. We are committed to the publication of the final version of the Framework by 31 March 2012, but intend to do so well ahead of that time.