The Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero (Grant Shapps)

I know my right hon. Friend is new to this House. This winter, as I mentioned, the Government have been paying half the energy bills of most British households. In these difficult times, that has been an extraordinary intervention that we are all very proud of. But it has taught us a valuable lesson—we can never again be held to ransom by energy tyranny. That is why we want to have the cheapest wholesale electricity in Europe, to be on a path to net zero, and to put Putin and his ilk in a position where they can no longer have any sway over our energy security.

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Grant Shapps

I was just having a debate about whether it was me or my hon. Friend the Member for West Aberdeenshire and Kincardine (Andrew Bowie), the Under-Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero. The point is that they have to be done with local consent. That is why a proper energy mix that includes not just wind farms but nuclear for about a quarter of our energy production is so important and why we have just appointed the first ever nuclear Minister, who some are calling “Atomic Bowie”.

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Graham Stuart (Conservative)

Seventy-seven per cent. of our energy today comes from fossil fuels. We will be using about a quarter of the gas we do today in 2050 under net zero. The idea that importing that, with higher emissions attached to it, rather than producing our own, is ridiculous environmentally, ridiculous economically and ridiculous in terms of maintaining the skills in the North sea that we are going to need for the transition, with hydrogen, carbon capture and other industries coming forward. I ask the Labour party to change its mind.

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Andrew Bowie (Conservative)

I am afraid the hon. Gentleman has not been listening to what we have been saying for the past hour. We are determined to ensure that we move towards net zero in a sensible and measured way, leading the world as we do so while ensuring food security across the country.

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Selaine Saxby (North Devon) (Con)

Contracts for difference have been successful in driving down the cost of renewable energies. However, industry bodies and developers are warning that the draft strike prices for allocation round 5 are too low. Can my right hon. Friend commit to a review of strike prices to ensure that the allocation round is a success for renewable energy technologies such as floating offshore wind?

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Darren Jones (Labour)

Can the Secretary of State confirm whether the responsibility for industrial decarbonisation rests with his Department or the Department for Business and Trade?

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Grant Shapps

As with everything in government, we share responsibilities. The clue is in the name—the Department for Energy Security and Net Zero.

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Alison Thewliss (Glasgow Central) (SNP)

As the proud host venue of COP26, the Scottish Event Campus in my constituency well understands the challenges of reaching net zero, but like many businesses in the events sector, it is facing astronomical energy bills. Would a Minister be willing to meet the Scottish Event Campus to discuss those bills and its ambitious plans for reaching net zero through investment in the campus?

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Wera Hobhouse (Liberal Democrat)

In its progress report last June, the Climate Change Committee noted that only about 40% of the Government’s plans for getting to net zero were credible. In some areas, including farming and industrial electrification, they had no plans at all. What are the Government doing to develop credible plans in those areas?

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Graham Stuart (Conservative)

We are under a legal duty to ensure that we move to net zero, and I am delighted that we are continuing to make progress. The hon. Lady will see announcements from the Government by the end of March on our net zero plans.

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Alexander Stafford (Rother Valley) (Con)

Domestic heating generates 14% of the UK’s carbon dioxide emissions, but blending natural gas with just 20% hydrogen would be the equivalent of taking 2.5 million cars off the road. We are already lagging behind Germany, France and Chile, which have decided to blend up to 20%, while Italy, Canada and Australia are close behind. Can the Minister assure me that the Government’s decision on blending hydrogen in our gas network will be a positive one so that we can stop tailing our European counterparts?

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Margaret Ferrier (Rutherglen and Hamilton West) (Ind)

Analysis by E3G has found that a third of the funding pledged for this Parliament to make buildings energy-efficient and to decarbonise heat has not been spent by the Government. What steps are the Government taking to ensure that that money is allocated and spent, and that leaky buildings are addressed swiftly?

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