Clause 18
Energy Bill
11:15 am
Malcolm Wicks (Minister of State (Energy), Department for Business, Enterprise & Regulatory Reform; Croydon North, Labour)
I invariably have more fundamental things in mind. The answer is yes: we want to consult because this, like many other questions, is not as simple as it sounds. We want to consider the capture readiness requirements that may be contained in future applications. In other words, we want to consider exactly what we mean by capture readiness. We want to have a consultation so that we can answer the hon. Gentleman’s question properly and technically. The issue deserves some technical work, hence our consultation.
In summary, I hope that I have reassured the hon. Members for Northavon and for Cheltenham that the provisions contained in the new clause are not necessary. The EU emissions trading scheme offers the most cost-effective means of ensuring that greenhouse gas emissions are reduced. However, I have always been happy to concede that, in the foreseeable future the ETS is unlikely to be the whole answer as it will depend on the price of carbon. Therefore, the consultation is important, as is the development of the CCS demonstration project as soon as we can.