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Draft National Policy Statement for Fossil Fuel Electricity Generating Infrastructure (EN-2)

I am sorry. We have to be very careful. We are moving towards a low-carbon world, but gas has an important part to play in the transition from where we are now to there. We do not want a reduction in investment in gas supply in the next few years; that would be a disaster. I agree that there is a debate to be had about the dash for gas, and that questions must be answered about how we will get the balance right. That is for government to work through. I will come to the question of carbon capture and storage. Noble Lords have not talked about carbon capture and storage for gas. Having assumed that we will crack the issue of carbon capture and storage for coal, there is no reason why the technology cannot be extended to gas. It is worth making the point that the Bill was amended in the other place so that the financial incentive mechanism that is being adopted for CCS for coal can be used for gas, although we made it clear that coal was our priority. I understand where the noble Lord is coming from. We are making good progress here. When I took 46 minutes to wind up my remarks, I was severely berated by government Whips, which is why they have left me to it this afternoon. In theory, we could go on until 6 pm.