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Storage of Carbon Dioxide (Inspections etc.) Regulations 2012

The noble Lord asks an interesting question. I am grateful that he should have given me an elephant trap—which I did not fall into—and dug me out of it. As he rightly says, the current thinking for the previous competition for the demonstration project was entirely for offshore. It could be that there is an onshore project in this competition. It is not thought to be likely at the moment, but it could happen. We would then have to recognise that problem. However, the issue here is not so much about onshore and offshore; it is whether we have the skill and the quality of inspectors. This is a unique process in the large scale; in the small scale it has been proven. All the way along the piece, therefore, we have to ensure that it is being inspected, managed and contained properly. That is why we are giving the inspectorate, which has been so successful in its oil activities, the opportunity as individuals to carry this out.