Extracts from Commons statement on Green GB Week and Clean Growth - Oct 15
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The Minister for Energy and Clean Growth (Claire Perry) ...In the
first half of 2018, one in five of electric vehicles sold in Europe
was made right here in the UK. In the service sector, the UK is
consulting, and engineering firms are international leaders for
global sustainable and low carbon projects. Since 2010, we have
invested £52 billion in renewable energy projects in this country
and the result is that we now generate more than...Request free trial
The Minister for Energy and Clean Growth (Claire Perry)
...In the first half of 2018, one in five of electric
vehicles sold in Europe was made right here in the UK. In the
service sector, the UK is consulting, and engineering firms
are international leaders for global sustainable and low
carbon projects. Since 2010, we have invested £52 billion in
renewable energy projects in this country and the result is
that we now generate more than half our electricity from low
carbon sources—32% came from renewables in
2017... As an electric car driver myself, I would point out to the Minister that the growth of electric cars means it is more imperative to invest in charging infrastructure, because it is pretty difficult at the moment to find a charging point that is not already being used. However, on the broader point, we are now talking about trying to move from a target of 80% in 2050 to net zero. Can she name one new thing she is doing, rather than going backwards, that will help us to meet that goal? I again have to commend the hon. Lady’s long-standing and non-virtue-signalling commitment in this area; she is one of the few people who takes the advice on diet. I would love to know about electric charging stations between Bristol and London, because I will hopefully be making that transition shortly. The hon. Lady is right, however. One of the key things that came out of the IPCC report, and will come forward, is that we may overshoot. What are we going to do about that? What are the technologies that will help us get back under 2°? We are one of the first Governments in the world to invest substantially in greenhouse gas removal technologies. I am not saying that that is the answer—I would not want to go there, and I would rather change—but if we have to pull CO2 out of the air or somehow get it out of the ecosystem, we will be one of the first Governments who are able to do that. That is something—[Interruption.] Well, I am afraid we need to consider it, and that is what the IPCC and the CCC have advised us to do. Aside from cutting the emission of hot air in this Chamber, we can do a number of things individually. Will the Department be issuing advice to nudge us in the right direction? If my right hon. Friend has a moment to go on to the fantastic Green GB Week website, he will find 10 things that he and local businesses in his constituency can do, ranging from test driving electric vehicles to upgrading heating controls and understanding where his pension is invested. If he wants to signal the importance of this transition, he should make sure that his investments are in a pension plan that is not investing in unsustainable businesses. There are many things he can do and I would love to hear back from him about which ones he does. I very much welcome this statement on green growth. With green growth, can we make sure that we concentrate on electric cars, electric buses and electric taxis so that we can get better air quality in our inner cities, especially in the 43 spots across the country where we really do need to improve air quality, so that we have a greener Britain?
My hon. Friend, in his capacity as Chair of the
Environment, Food and Rural Affairs Select Committee,
knows very well that what is referred to as the
“co-benefit” of cutting emissions also means better
air quality, better human health and better child
outcomes, in terms of reduced asthma levels. We did
not think about that before, but now we are, and
luckily we can understand those things and work out
the costs and benefits, taking into account some of
these new measures. The key to a decentralised smart energy system is people installing generation not for the purpose of selling to the grid, but to meet their own needs. Does my right hon. Friend agree that the way to make all that happen is to encourage people to install the storage, the electrified heat, the electric vehicles and all the other facilities that will help them to consume the power that they generate on their premises?
Indeed, and they should also be encouraged to
install the smart meters that can join
everything up and show them where the energy
generation and export are coming from. We are
seeing more and more of that, and we are
supporting many of those investments through
our innovation funding. Decentralised energy
generation and energy balancing are a big part
of the future. |