Kate Kniveton (Burton) (Con):...In Staffordshire, we have
world-class businesses along the corridor driving the hydrogen
technology revolution, including JCB in my constituency. We also
have Toyota, Alstom and Rolls-Royce nearby.
These technologies will play a vital role in contributing to our
net-zero goals and advancing our manufacturing industries. The
recent announcement that JCB has become the first construction
equipment company to develop a fully working hydrogen internal
combustion engine is a fantastic development that has the
potential to transform the way we power heavy machinery, but
these companies, and others along the corridor, want to do more.
There is so much potential ready to be unlocked, but the
infrastructure to support these industries is not matching the
pace of their technological breakthroughs...
(North West Leicestershire)
(Ind):...Turning to energy and science, I would like to mention
an energy source that I have been promoting for some time, which
is small modular nuclear reactors. Only in November last year, I
said to the Secretary of State that renewables cannot be relied
on to provide all our energy needs, due to their intermittent
nature. It is clear that we need to add more reliable baseload
capacity, and nuclear is the favourite for that. Hundreds of my
constituents work at Rolls-Royce
and many of them work on the development of small modular
reactors. Therefore, I very much welcome the announcement in the
Budget of a competition through Great British Nuclear to build
small modular reactors in the UK, and the inclusion of nuclear
energy in the green zero carbon taxonomy. I am sure that my
skilled worker constituents at Rolls-Royce in
Derby will step up to the mark, and that we will see reliable
baseload energy produced from that source sooner, rather than
later...
(Erewash) (Con):...To fully
capitalise on the creation of new investment zones, as well as
the expansion of UK civil nuclear, led by
Derby-based Rolls-Royce
we must ask ourselves: how do we keep the UK workforce healthier
for longer? The answer is through a combination of targeted
public health measures aimed at prevention, such as tackling
obesity and reducing levels of smoking, together with innovative
health tech partnerships, such as the one signed by the
Government and Moderna to invest in mRNA research and development
and build a state-of-the-art vaccine manufacturing centre here in
Britain...
(Ynys Môn) (Con):...Ynys
Môn is one of Rolls-Royce’s four potential SMR
sites. I have taken around the island SMR companies, such Last
Energy and GE Hitachi, with a view to investing on Ynys Môn. But
it is the outcome of all these words that my constituents are
most interested in. This Budget paves the way for regenerating
Wylfa—currently the site of a nuclear power plant undergoing
decommissioning. I hope, soon, to see spades in the ground for
the UK’s next new nuclear construction...
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