Oral question asked in the House of Lords, by Lord Ezra (Liberal Democrat). It was answered on Wednesday, 18 April 2007.

Energy: Carbon Emissions

Question: My Lords, I thank the Minister for that Answer. Does he agree that power stations account for 30 per cent of the total UK carbon emissions and that that quantity is growing year by year? Does he further agree, as he has indicated, that steps have already been set out whereby this can be dealt with, including an improved European Emissions Trading Scheme, the encouragement of distributed energy and microgeneration, the further development of renewable energy and the early installation of clean coal plants? In these circumstances and in the light of the climate change agreement, should not the Government now prepare a plan in conjunction with the power station sector and other interested parties to reduce these substantial and growing emissions by a specified rate each year until acceptable levels are reached?

Answer: My Lords, the noble Lord has a great deal of experience in this area. The whole point of the spring Council was to agree a limit on greenhouse gas emissions growth over coming years—20 per cent unilaterally by 2020 and 30 per cent if we achieve international action. An important part of this is the EU Emissions Trading Scheme. We are currently in phase 2. We see this as the main mechanism for introducing a carbon price in the UK and the EU and for extending it globally. We see it as a major mechanism for reducing carbon emissions. We are looking at other measures. The noble Lord will know about our position on, for example, the co-firing of power stations. We shall also publish our energy White Paper next month, which will outline our plans in detail.

Secondary information

Type: Oral question
Reference: 691 c213
Session: 2006-07
Oral question type: 1st Supplementary
Chamber / Committee: House of Lords chamber
Related items: Deposited Paper DEP 07/1142
Monday, 23 April 2007
Deposited papers
House of Lords
House of Commons
Subjects: Electricity generation Power stations Pollution control Carbon emissions
Link: View this Oral question on www.publications.parliament.uk