argyrotsipi/train-dataset huggingface dataset:
Energy Bill [Lords] — House of Commons, 2016-01-18
Topic: Energy
Amber Rudd (Conservative, Centre-right): I urge the hon. Gentleman to think carefully about the importance of striking a balance. However important we think renewables are—and we do—we need also to have absolutely secure base-loads so that there is never any risk to energy security. That is why this Government are so committed to delivering on nuclear.
Energy Bill [Lords] — House of Commons, 2016-01-18
Topic: Energy
John Alan Redwood (Conservative, Centre-right): Before the debate today, I checked and discovered that 1% of our power is currently being generated from wind, 30% from coal and 42% from gas. Does that not show us that the Secretary of State is right not to rely on all these renewables, because if she did, all the lights would go off?
Energy Bill [Lords] — House of Commons, 2016-01-18
Topic: Energy
Amber Rudd (Conservative, Centre-right): I thank my right hon. Friend for that helpful comment. He is indeed right: it is absolutely essential that we have a secure base load while we deliver on our renewable targets as well Simply meeting the targets we have set ourselves is not sufficient if we are to secure energy security and decarbonisation. We have to achieve this in the most cost-effective way. Subsidies should be temporary, not part of a permanent business model. New, clean technologies will be sustainable at the scale we need only if they are cheap enough. We need to strike the right balance between supporting new technologies and, as costs come down, being tough on subsidies to keep bills as low as possible. We can only expect bill payers to support low carbon power as long as costs are controlled The Energy Bill is intended to enact our manifesto commitments in two key ways: first, by continuing to support the development of North sea oil and gas by implementing the recommendations of the review by Sir Ian Wood to establish the Oil and Gas Authority as an independent regulator and steward; and, secondly, by acting to control the costs of renewable energy by ending new subsidies for onshore wind and providing local people with the final say on new applications.
Energy Bill [Lords] — House of Commons, 2016-01-18
Topic: Energy
Amber Rudd (Conservative, Centre-right): I am going to make some progress on those two things and then I will take a further intervention The North sea oil and gas industry is still of huge strategic and economic importance to the United Kingdom. It has been the UK’s largest industrial investor for many decades, supporting hundreds of thousands of jobs, especially in Scotland. Since the 1970s, the industry has paid more than £300 billion in production taxes. In 2014, the UK continental shelf produced oil and gas equivalent to well over half the UK demand, but as the basin has matured, oil and gas has become more difficult and more expensive to access. That has been brought into sharp focus of late with the sudden and sustained fall in the oil price, which is putting considerable pressure on the industry to create a more competitive cost base and increase efficiency. As a result, 2014-15 saw falling revenues and falling investment—regrettably, we are also seeing job losses. In order to continue to attract investment and safeguard the future of this vital national asset, the Chancellor set out a significant package of tax reforms for the industry in the March 2015 Budget. We went further in the summer Budget, with measures expected to increase production by 15% by 2020. In the long term, a sustainable economic future for the North sea offshore industry will be achieved only if we can maximise oil and gas recovery. That is why the last Government set up the Wood review, and Sir Ian reported that with the right strategy in place, the recovery of North sea reserves can be boosted by an additional 3 billion to 4 billion barrels over the next 20 years.
Energy Bill [Lords] — House of Commons, 2016-01-18
Topic: Macroeconomics
Amber Rudd (Conservative, Centre-right): The hon. Gentleman is, of course, absolutely right to say that great progress has been made in reducing the cost of production already, and part of the intention of this Bill is to make sure that we can deliver further on that. I share his view that we need to give as much support as possible, but it is too early for me to comment now on whether the Treasury will be able to give that support. I know that this Government are committed to making sure that we continue to support those jobs and the industry.
Energy Bill [Lords] — House of Commons, 2016-01-18
Topic: Energy
Amber Rudd (Conservative, Centre-right): The hon. Gentleman raises an important point. It is my position that, if Northern Ireland chooses to provide additional support for onshore wind, the consumers in Northern Ireland, and not Great Britain, should bear the cost. We must make strategic choices on where public money is directed, because we cannot afford to support every project and every technology regardless of its contribution to energy security, and regardless of the cost. We need to concentrate our support on where technology has the potential to deliver at the significant scale that we need for energy security and decarbonisation, and where, to be viable, we still need to see significant falls in costs for technology.
Energy Bill [Lords] — House of Commons, 2016-01-18
Topic: Technology
Jeremy John Elton Lefroy (Conservative, Centre-right): In that context, will my right hon. Friend clarify when the next contracts for difference round for these new advanced technologies will be held, and whether the widest possible range of those technologies will be suitable for that round?
Energy Bill [Lords] — House of Commons, 2016-01-18
Topic: Energy
Amber Rudd (Conservative, Centre-right): My hon. Friend raises an important point. We have confirmed that there will be three new auctions for offshore wind. We are looking now at what would be included in that and the best way to drive down prices, because this Government are clear that that support will continue only as long as we continue to drive down prices, which is critical to looking after consumers.
Energy Bill [Lords] — House of Commons, 2016-01-18
Topic: Energy
Amber Rudd (Conservative, Centre-right): The hon. Gentleman raises two points. We have said that we are devolving to local communities and that we are ending new subsidies, so it would currently be unlikely for a new onshore wind project to go ahead, but we have agreed to discuss with developers the prospect of onshore wind without subsidy if it has local community support. In respect of Wales, I will discuss with the Welsh Government the best way to deliver on the hon. Gentleman’s suggestion. Rest assured, the devolved Administrations are fully aware of the plans and now support them In pursuance of those strategic choices, we are pushing forward with proposals for low carbon base-load with a new fleet of nuclear power stations, and we are consulting on a closure date for coal and working to get new lower carbon gas-fired power stations built. Energy security must come first because it is the foundation of our future economic success, but that future must be low-carbon too, because climate change is one of the greatest long-term threats to our economic security. That low-carbon future cannot be achieved at any cost, because it is the hard-working families and businesses of Britain that are ultimately footing the bill.
Energy Bill [Lords] — House of Commons, 2016-01-18
Topic: Energy
James Roger Cartlidge (Conservative, Centre-right): The hon. Lady talks about the oil price. Does she agree with her hon. Friend the Member for Swansea West (Geraint Davies) that we should be trying to lobby the American Government to reduce shale output and increase the oil price?
Energy Bill [Lords] — House of Commons, 2016-01-18
Topic: Energy
Christopher John Pincher (Conservative, Centre-right): I commend the hon. Lady for her bipartisan approach to the Bill. She has talked about the Oil and Gas Authority, which of course will set fees for the services it provides, and the Secretary of State will be able to determine what those fees should be. Can the hon. Lady indicate at what level she thinks the Opposition would set those fees, and for how long?
Energy Bill [Lords] — House of Commons, 2016-01-18
Topic: Energy
Jeremy John Elton Lefroy (Conservative, Centre-right): Does the hon. Lady also agree that it is not just a matter of extracting the remaining oil from around the United Kingdom but about the huge oil and gas support services industry, which does so much around the world, contributing to the balance of payments and to jobs in the United Kingdom?
Energy Bill [Lords] — House of Commons, 2016-01-18
Topic: Energy
John Alan Redwood (Conservative, Centre-right): Is not the awful truth at the moment that, with oil at $29 a barrel, there will be practically no new investment in new projects in the North sea because it simply is not viable? What does the hon. Lady’s plan suggest on that?
Energy Bill [Lords] — House of Commons, 2016-01-18
Topic: Energy
Jeremy John Elton Lefroy (Conservative, Centre-right): I am grateful to the hon. Lady for her generosity in giving way. Does she agree that there are a lot of opportunities for exporting CCS technology around the world and that they should be taken up?
Energy Bill [Lords] — House of Commons, 2016-01-18
Topic: Energy
Graham Charles Stuart (Conservative, Centre-right): I am glad that the Labour party has effected a U-turn, because I argued for years under a Labour Government that imposing wind farms on communities against their will would lead to a backlash and to the project being brought to a halt. That is what has happened, so it is a bit late for the hon. Lady to say that she wants to listen to local communities. If we had listened to local communities all along, we could have had more onshore wind turbines where they were desired, rather than the backlash that has resulted in the current situation.
Energy Bill [Lords] — House of Commons, 2016-01-18
Topic: Energy
Christopher John Pincher (Conservative, Centre-right): My right hon. Friend the Member for Wokingham (John Redwood) has pointed out that now onshore wind generates 1% of generating capacity. At most, when the wind is blowing, it is 7% or 8%. What percentage of our generating capacity would the hon. Lady like wind to supply? If it is significantly more than 8%, how would it be done without imposing wind farms on areas that do not want them?
Energy Bill [Lords] — House of Commons, 2016-01-18
Topic: Energy
Nigel Adams (Conservative, Centre-right): It is a great pleasure to follow the hon. Member for Wigan (Lisa Nandy). I rise to welcome the Bill. I particularly welcomed the original version, before noble Members got their hands on it and removed clause 60, which would have delivered on my party’s clear commitment to the electorate before the general election. We promised no new subsidies for onshore wind farms and to give local communities the final say on onshore wind farm applications. A failure to deliver that promise in its entirety would be a failure to balance the interests of onshore wind developers with those of hard-working families in my constituency and right across the country. I also welcome the strengthening of the Oil and Gas Authority’s powers to ensure that we make the most of our reserves Almost a year ago, I introduced the Onshore Wind Turbine Subsidies (Abolition) Bill. It had precisely the same objective as the original clause 60 of this Bill. I would like to think that my ten-minute rule Bill was a trailblazer for the Government’s Bill. I introduced my Bill because if we are to subsidise renewable energy sources, it is essential to support technologies that will produce power when we need it, not just when the wind blows. Given that one man’s subsidy is another man’s tax, it is crucial to make sure that when we spend money, we do so wisely Onshore wind farms generate below 20% of their stated maximum output for 20 weeks a year, and below 10% for nine weeks a year. That means that wind farms are, in effect, failing to reach maximum output capacity for more than half the year. On average, they exceed 90% of their rated output for only 17 hours a year. There is also a very significant issue about whether those wind farms will be able to reach such heady peaks when they are actually needed. Worse still, Britain’s wind farms are routinely paid large sums not to generate electricity—as much as £1 million each week in 2014. [Interruption.] Does the hon. Lady want to intervene?
Energy Bill [Lords] — House of Commons, 2016-01-18
Topic: Energy
Nigel Adams (Conservative, Centre-right): The hon. Gentleman makes a fair point, or at least it would be fair if it was accurate, which unfortunately it is not. Wind has to be backed up by fossil fuels, which makes no sense whatsoever. We must take into consideration the full system cost of wind. Such payments, which are described as constraint payments, ultimately end up on consumer bills, meaning that the public are in effect subsidising the UK wind industry not to produce electricity. One really could not make it up.
Energy Bill [Lords] — House of Commons, 2016-01-18
Topic: Energy
Nigel Adams (Conservative, Centre-right): My right hon. Friend makes a perfectly sound point. That is the case today, for example. I will be more generous to the wind industry: I think that 1.11% of power today is being generated by wind. We all know what happened in November, but I will come on to that a little later. We are becoming more reliant on intermittent renewables.
Energy Bill [Lords] — House of Commons, 2016-01-18
Topic: Energy
Andrew Theakstone Percy (Conservative, Centre-right): I live opposite a wind farm in my hon. Friend’s constituency. I do not blame him for not preventing it, because it was before his time. Many of the people who are in favour of wind farms are not surrounded by them as people in my constituency are. On the issue of renewable energy and its intermittent nature, does he not agree that one form of generation that we should be promoting more and that we know very well in our area is biomass, which not only supports thousands of jobs at Drax power station, but is a source that we can turn on and off at will?
Energy Bill [Lords] — House of Commons, 2016-01-18
Topic: Energy
Nigel Adams (Conservative, Centre-right): My hon. Friend and neighbour is absolutely right. I applaud the work that Drax power station has done and I look forward to biomass generation going ahead at Lynemouth, which is under new ownership. It is a much cleaner fuel than coal. Indeed, it reduces emissions by about 80%. I would like the Government to get behind more biomass. I am sure that they will have an explanation for why there might be three pots for offshore wind, but I would like biomass to be able to fight on an even keel with the other technologies There is increasing dependence on offshore wind and solar. The situation is getting worse, not better. The nuclear stations, when built, will form part of the solution, but they cannot react to changes in demand or failures in supply anything like fast enough to keep the lights on. They can provide only base-load power, which is important but is not the answer to the intermittency problem.
Energy Bill [Lords] — House of Commons, 2016-01-18
Topic: Energy
Nigel Adams (Conservative, Centre-right): The hon. Gentleman makes a fair point. That is why we need the new stations to be built a bit sooner. If previous Governments had been a bit braver, we might not be in the situation that we are in now In the circumstances, is it wise to phase out all the coal in the system before sufficient gas and biomass have been deployed to make up the difference? I ask the Minister to restate the Government’s commitment that coal will be phased out of the system only after sufficient biomass and gas generation have been brought forward to make up the loss.
Energy Bill [Lords] — House of Commons, 2016-01-18
Topic: Environment
Graham Charles Stuart (Conservative, Centre-right): Does my hon. Friend accept that if we are to get the dirtiest of fuels off the grid and clean our atmosphere, we have to state that as an objective, as the Government have rightly done, because only after that signal will the investment come forward to replace it? If it will not definitely be phased out, why will people definitely invest?
Energy Bill [Lords] — House of Commons, 2016-01-18
Topic: Energy
Andrew Theakstone Percy (Conservative, Centre-right): I thank my hon. Friend for giving way. First, although we are aware that coal is the dirtiest form of generation, it employs an awful lot of people in our area for one thing. Secondly, does he agree that the real concern is that losing Drax, Eggborough and Ferrybridge will put us in a position where the lights go off? Woe betide any Government who preside over the lights going off. We need certainty that losing coal will not lead to that.
Energy Bill [Lords] — House of Commons, 2016-01-18
Topic: Energy
Nigel Adams (Conservative, Centre-right): I totally agree. That is another great advertisement for sustainable biomass. We have paid for these assets—the Central Electricity Generating Board built these power stations—so let us sweat them for more decades. Biomass is the answer in the short term. Who knows? There might be other technologies that we could be using at them, such as hydrogen power. I am sure that there are the brains out there to find a way to use that resource.
Energy Bill [Lords] — House of Commons, 2016-01-18
Topic: Energy
Nigel Adams (Conservative, Centre-right): I agree with the hon. Gentleman. It is tragic that we have sped up the demise of coal in this country. He will be aware that the last remaining deep coalmine was in my constituency. Unfortunately, it closed at the back end of last year.
Energy Bill [Lords] — House of Commons, 2016-01-18
Topic: Energy
Graham Charles Stuart (Conservative, Centre-right): Does the hon. Gentleman agree on these two things: first, that while we are burning oil and gas, it might as well be our own; and, secondly, that saying we are subsidising oil and gas simply because we tax it slightly less is a false narrative?
Energy Bill [Lords] — House of Commons, 2016-01-18
Topic: Macroeconomics
David Mowat (Conservative, Centre-right): The hon. Gentleman mentions, correctly, the need for a laser-like focus on maximising economic recovery as the objective of the Bill—and goodness knows we need it. Is it therefore his party’s position that the amendment in the House of Lords on carbon capture and storage is not necessary at this point, because it could risk reducing that laser-like focus?
Energy Bill [Lords] — House of Commons, 2016-01-18
Topic: Macroeconomics
James Roger Cartlidge (Conservative, Centre-right): This issue clearly has to be approached through partnership between the UK Government and the Scottish Government. That being so, and given that the Scottish Government are about to get new tax-raising powers and that this is currently a real crisis for the key UK and Scottish strategic economy, will it be the policy of the Scottish Government to use those powers to raise funds to support the industry, if need be?
Energy Bill [Lords] — House of Commons, 2016-01-18
Topic: Energy
John Alan Redwood (Conservative, Centre-right): The UK Government are not currently collecting any special North sea tax revenues because the oil price is so depressed. I might agree with the hon. Gentleman if reforms were made in the future, but will he give us an impression of the industry’s perspective in the area around his constituency on what will happen to jobs and investment at these oil price levels?
Energy Bill [Lords] — House of Commons, 2016-01-18
Topic: Energy
Nigel Adams (Conservative, Centre-right): I am very grateful. I apologise to my right hon. Friend the Member for Hitchin and Harpenden (Mr Lilley), who is far more senior than I am The hon. Gentleman talks of how cheap onshore wind is as a renewable. Does he not accept that it must be backed up by fossil fuels, which are not so cheap? If the full system cost of onshore wind is taken into consideration, it is one of the least affordable renewable technologies that we have.
Energy Bill [Lords] — House of Commons, 2016-01-18
Topic: Environment
David Mowat (Conservative, Centre-right): In principle, that apparently is the position of the hon. Gentleman’s party, because to leave the ETS, which is a Europe-wide system, seems an odd tack to take for a party that is always telling us how European it is. In particular, surely the way to fix this is to get a proper ETS, not one that has a price of carbon that is so low? That is the way forward, not by leaving it. Surely as good Europeans, that cannot be the SNP position.
Energy Bill [Lords] — House of Commons, 2016-01-18
Topic: Environment
Peter Lilley (Conservative, Centre-right): It is apparently "Fifty Shades of Grey". [Interruption.] Have I any higher bids? I have not read it; I have not even read the title of it. However, the surprising popularity of that book demonstrated that sadomasochism, or the infliction of pain and the submission to pain, are far more widespread tastes than we had previously thought. It seems to me that in the political sphere there is a similar belief that it would be popular to inflict pain or submit to pain by green policies. We might say that what we are suffering from in this country is "Fifty shades of green". The trouble is that Members who are committed to this doctrine measure the success of their policies not by what they will achieve, but by what they will cost, and not by how effectively they will reach a given destination, but by how onerous are the burdens they can place on Britain, British households and British business That pain is very significant. The Committee on Climate Change worked out the costs of climate change policies in 2014-15, and it came out at about £250 per household. [Interruption.] The right hon. Member for Doncaster North (Edward Miliband) may disagree with the Committee on Climate Change, which he helped set up; if so, please intervene—but of course he cannot sustain his position. That figure is set to double by 2020, to double again probably by 2030, and to double again by 2050. That is the direct effect on household budgets both through their energy bills and the cost of more expensive products because energy prices feed through to product costs There is also the cost on jobs. We have lost the aluminium industry already, and earlier today we were seeing the serious the impact of job losses in the steel industry. Of course, the basic reason why there are job losses in the steel industry is that there is a worldwide glut of supply, but the reason that falls excessively on this country is that our industrial energy costs are higher than those anywhere else in Europe. That is why we are suffering disproportionately at the moment. I am reliably informed by my right hon. Friend the Member for Wokingham (John Redwood) that we are importing bricks. I recently had lunch with a businessman who said that 7% of his output comes from the UK but that 28% of his energy costs were in this country.
Energy Bill [Lords] — House of Commons, 2016-01-18
Topic: Environment
John Alan Redwood (Conservative, Centre-right): Is it not the point that these green targets can bear down very heavily on our country without reducing carbon dioxide emissions at all, because these products are being made somewhere else and perhaps producing even more carbon dioxide?