Energy Bill

I want to continue the theme adopted by the hon. Member for Northavon (Steve Webb). I was rather encouraged when the Minister began by talking about carbon capture and storage. Great Britain has been given a massive opportunity by the 240 years or so of our energy requirements that lie beneath the surface of this country alone in coal seams, and the ability to extend oil production by up to 25 years. Together those factors could do much to solve our energy security problems, but sadly we have been very timid. The Government's actions in the Bill have closed down progress on carbon capture and storage. The Select Committee was given considerable evidence of that—some of it as a result of the questions asked by the hon. Member for Northavon (Steve Webb)—during its public sessions when we listened to witnesses. Let me give an example of the way in which the Government have disappointed the pre-combustion lobby. The Centrica-Progressive Energy project at Eston Grange on Teesside is a good example. It proposed an 850 MW integrated gasification combined cycle coal-fired power station with pre-combustion carbon dioxide capture on a brownfield site. Sadly, that has been scaled back now, and the company is reviewing the whole process. A £1.2 million scheme that would have supplied clean power to 1 million homes will not now go ahead, certainly in the form originally suggested. There is an even more vital concern in respect of carbon capture and storage. We have only a small window for enhanced oil recovery in the North sea. That will not take place now. On pre-combustion, we know the technology exists and is being used in various sites throughout the world. It is not quite put together in the way we would need in the North sea, but it is being used. Many North sea fields will reach the end of their working lives between 2015 and 2022, and that poses a massive problem. We will not be able to address it, because the competition has specified post-combustion and only a demonstration model, whereas I am told by experts that a commercial station can be up and running by 2014 if we have the courage to proceed. We know that we need to store carbon securely, and that can be done either in oil wells coming to the end of their lives, saline aquifers or old coal mines. What is the advantage of using oil wells in this respect? It is that by shoving carbon down there, we increase pressure and get about 15 per cent. more oil out of those wells. That amounts to up to 25 years of extra oil production. I am told that a 800 MW pre-combustion station will produce 5 million tonnes of carbon per year. One tonne produces three barrels of oil. I need hardly go on with the mathematics—I can see you looking at me in a concerned fashion, Madam Deputy Speaker. The point I am making is that the Bill lays some foundations, but the way we proceeded with the competition that is vital to the Bill has closed down much of our ability to exploit two great resources in this country. That is a massive missed opportunity. As the hon. Member for Northavon says, it is more than that; it is a tragedy. I ask the Minister—