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Energy Bill

This is an interesting and important amendment. It would amend subsection (3), which starts, ““A licence may include””. As the noble Lord, Lord De Mauley, suggested, ““may”” is almost too easy in that sentence. A reporting structure must be included in the Bill, so this is a positive contribution to the debate. I shall be interested to hear the Government's response on why compulsory reporting of such matters is not in the Bill. As this is the first time that I have intervened since we moved on to carbon storage, and as I am probably not entering into the areas on which the noble Lord, Lord Jenkin, will speak, I shall ask the Government more generally about these measures. First, on where storage can be licensed, Clause 17 in Chapter 3 defines a ““controlled place””. Licences can be granted only for controlled places, which are defined in two ways —as a, "““territorial sea, or … waters in a Gas Importation and Storage Zone””." Am I right to conclude from this that the Bill allows storage only offshore, below the sea? I am surprised that the clauses relate to temporary as well as permanent storage. It seems strange to me—although perhaps I do not understand the industry sufficiently—because there might often need to be temporary storage on land. I cannot see how the clause in any way allows for temporary storage to be licensed and therefore approved other than above or below the ocean or in the waters defined as an importation or storage zone. Furthermore, have the various issues around international treaties been resolved by the British Government? I refer to the Ospar treaty and, I think, another treaty—maybe the Treaty of London—under which this is still seen as a pollutant, and storing and disposing of potentially environmentally dangerous or polluting products at or below sea is specifically prohibited. Have the Government resolved all those international treaty issues to allow carbon storage to take place, especially in areas such as the North Sea?