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Energy Bill

I thank the Minister for his fulsome reply, and the noble Baroness, Lady Wilcox, for her erudite exposition of the amendment itself. I am probably one of the few complete sceptics on the value of the EU ETS in Parliament—but that is personal opinion, not the view of my party. We are reliant on this unproven mechanism producing enormous amounts of carbon reduction, so a degree of scepticism towards a system that has had faults in the past is reasonable. However, the Minister has been careful in his response, for which I thank him. The amendment looks at testing power stations as we test emissions of cars. I do not see why we should not look at power stations operating on that basis. The amendment looks at reducing the amount of coal, which will be part of the mix for the foreseeable future. However, reducing the amount of carbon dioxide from coal-fired power stations through co-firing and other new technologies should not be limited by capping the released CO2; in fact, it would be veritably encouraged by it. Having said that, the Minister has given a good reply and, on that basis, I beg leave to withdraw the amendment. Amendment, by leave, withdrawn. [Amendments Nos. 61 and 62 not moved.]