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Energy Bill

Like the noble Lord, Lord Jenkin, I, too, look forward to the discussions on the new clause amendment. On Amendment No. 8, the nature of carbon capture and storage means that the facilities will have a very long life. Indeed in theory, as far as we are all concerned, they will have an infinite life, or at least hundreds and hundreds of years, which is their whole attraction. That gives rise to the question of the length of the licence. What length of licence is envisaged in this area? Secondly, the licence will carry certain obligations to deal with the maintenance of the facility. Once it is full, it is still storage and it still has to be maintained. Things could go wrong over a very long time. If there is a similarity to anything, it is to nuclear waste disposal. It would therefore be helpful if, at this early stage—we may well come back to this later—the Minister could now, or later, tell us a little about the Government's thinking on the length of the licences and how, given the peculiarly long lifetime of the investments in the facilities, they intend to deal with matters such as long-term maintenance, long-term reassurance about things going wrong and the kind of financial provision that would have to be made.