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Kieran Mullan's Speeches In Parliament Related to Climate

We've found 12 Parliamentary debates in which Kieran Mullan has spoken about climate-related matters.

Here are the relevant sections of their speeches.

• 13 Jul 2026: Illegal Immigrants: Offshore Detention and Deportation

  17:29

  We know that the convention has now gone as far as to be applied to questions of whether a particular Government is doing enough to tackle climate change. That is why even some of our most senior and respected jurists, such as former UK Supreme Court Justice Lord Sumption, are clear about the need to leave. I recommend anyone sincerely interested in this topic to listen to his 2019 BBC Reith lectures on it. He explains clearly how human rights laws are increasingly used in place of the practice of politics, democracy and elections. They have increasingly become questions of balancing. They always were, of course, but the balancing has become finer and more nuanced, and at their heart, those questions are societal and political, not legal.

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• 6 Mar 2025: Geothermal Energy

  17:00

  Helping me in this effort is the all-party parliamentary group on deep geothermal, which the Association for Renewable Energy and Clean Technology helps to administer. I am delighted to spot the hon. Members for Truro and Falmouth (Jayne Kirkham), for Camborne and Redruth (Perran Moon) and for Rushcliffe (James Naish) in the Chamber, who are all members of the APPG, which provides me with an opportunity to recognise and thank them for the work they are doing for the cause.

  Deep geothermal energy remains an underutilised resource in the UK, despite its potential to provide reliable renewable heat in particular, and also power. With growing pressure to secure our energy future and decarbonise heating, now is the time to give this technology the attention it deserves. As we work towards energy security and decarbonisation, we must explore every viable renewable energy source. Deep geothermal offers a stable and sustainable solution, yet it remains largely untapped in the UK. To unlock its potential, the Government must take the lead, providing the necessary support to get projects off the ground and demonstrate their long-term viability.

  One of the biggest challenges we face in the journey to net zero is the decarbonisation of heating, which must be treated as a priority. The UK has more than 28.5 million homes and 1.9 million other buildings—including offices, hospitals, shops and warehouses—the vast majority of which rely on gas boilers for both heating and hot water. These buildings alone account for nearly one fifth of the UK’s total emissions. The Climate Change Committee has identified decarbonising heat as one of the most difficult yet essential steps in reaching net zero.

  Achieving net zero by 2050 requires us to use every tool at our disposal. While much of the Government’s attention has been focused on air and ground source heat pumps, alongside other electrification methods, which have an important and certainly dominant role to play, converting the entire housing stock to those technologies will put immense pressure on our electricity grid and supply chains. That is where deep geothermal stands out. It offers a reliable, low-carbon solution for heating that is not dependent on sun or wind—it is there all year round, whatever the weather—and has been successfully deployed in other countries to great effect.

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  16:07

  Since the closure of the non-domestic renewable heat incentive in 2021—unfortunately just as interest was peaking from industry—deep geothermal, unlike solar and wind in their early beginnings, has been without comprehensive Government support to develop the market. There have been encouraging breakthroughs, as was mentioned, and in 2023 the UK’s first operational deep geothermal plant to open in 37 years went online at the Eden Project. Deep geothermal also made its historic debut in allocation round 5 of contracts for difference, with three projects from Geothermal Engineering Ltd securing approval, totalling 12 MW of capacity. At Langarth garden village, green heat network funding is now supporting the development of a geothermal-powered heat network to turn that resource into local supply. Those successes show that, with the right backing, geothermal can become a key player in our transition to clean, sustainable energy.

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  17:07

  The UK is already a world leader in tackling climate change and clean energy, having been the first major economy to halve our emissions, and renewables now account for more than 50% of our electricity, up from just 7% in 2010. With deep sedimentary basins in east Yorkshire and Cheshire, granites in Cornwall and Scotland, hot sedimentary aquifers in Surrey, Dorset, and Sussex—in my constituency—the UK’s unique geography puts us in an ideal position to exploit the benefits of geothermal energy.

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  17:08

  The Association for Renewable Energy and Clean Technology—REA—worked with Arup to assess the UK’s potential. They estimated that the UK could support 360 geothermal plants, producing 15,000 GW of heat each year, which could supply heating to over 2 million homes through heat networks. Additionally, some of those plants could generate around 400 GW of electricity annually, enough to power a further 150,000 homes.

  How might we go further in the short term? I have worked with the industry to develop a ready-made plan. I ask the Minister to look closely at the proposals that the APPG have produced to create a carve-out in the public sector decarbonisation scheme to unlock this opportunity. The PSD scheme has already played a crucial role in helping public sector buildings transition to low carbon heating solutions. However, a specific programme could be carved out to support an initial cohort of deep geothermal projects, ensuring that schools, hospitals and other public buildings can benefit from this reliable, renewable heat source. By doing so, the Government would not only accelerate the decarbonisation of public infrastructure, but provide a strong foundation for the wider geothermal industry to scale up and attract investment.

  I have spoken in the Chamber before about how hospitals are fantastic anchor candidates for deep geothermal plants. Industry leaders have identified that, of the 210 NHS hospitals in England and Wales that have been prioritised for decarbonisation due to their high heat demand, 109 overlie potential geothermal aquifers. The advantage of working across the NHS is that we can bundle up opportunities to create a bigger investment opportunity. I know that hospitals across the country are already exploring this, including Eastbourne district general hospital, which services my constituents in Bexhill and Battle.

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  17:14

  I hope that I have done an adequate job of showcasing the industry and its potential. Everything we have learned in recent years shows that we need to take advantage of every opportunity. We need to build the biggest coalition, deploy the largest possible workforce and spread the benefits of decarbonising as widely as possible if we are to succeed and bring the country with us in the challenge. I cannot think of a better way of doing that than putting dedicated resources into deep geothermal. I know that it could bring benefits to my constituents and to the constituents of many other Members and unlock hundreds of millions, if not billions of pounds of investment into our economy. I look forward to hearing about the Minister’s plans and ambitions, which I hope will get us there.

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• 29 Oct 2024: Great British Energy Bill

  15:11

  Today we are debating a number of amendments related to the strategic priorities of Great British Energy, and that will be the focus of my remarks today. I rise to ask the Government to assure the House that, given that this is not specifically mentioned in the Bill, they understand that one of the biggest challenges we face when it comes to decarbonisation is in relation to heating, and to make that a strategic priority. The UK has more than 28.5 million homes, and another 1.9 million buildings, offices, hospitals, shops, warehouses and more, the majority of which are heated by gas boilers, which also provide hot water. Nearly one fifth of all the UK’s emissions come from these buildings. The Climate Change Committee considers decarbonising heat to be one of the greatest challenges we face in getting to net zero, but that is not specified in the Bill.

  Getting to net zero by 2050 will require us to pull every possible lever available. GB Energy needs to encompass the full thermodynamic meaning of the term energy, rather than focusing just on electricity. Although there is much to be said for the current plan to use air source and ground source heat pumps alongside other methods of using electric to heat buildings, attempting to convert our entire housing stock to this approach will place enormous strain on our electricity grid and supply chains.

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• 9 Sep 2024: Bus Franchising

  We on this side of the House are in full agreement that good local transport is something that everyone deserves access to, both for helping people to live their lives and for fulfilling the economic potential of all parts of the country. At the heart of our local transport services are buses. They are some of the most convenient, well-connected and accessible forms of public transport out there—crucially, not just in urban areas, but very often in under-connected rural areas. That is why, in government, we invested billions of pounds in the bus sector, including the vital support provided to maintain services during the pandemic. We rolled out thousands of new zero-emissions buses and introduced the “Get around for £2” scheme, saving millions of people money on their fares and helping to get passengers back on buses.

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• 18 Jul 2024: Clean Energy Superpower Mission

  12:04

  In the last Parliament, I was lucky enough to be the co-chair of the all-party parliamentary group on deep geothermal. I felt that we made good progress in convincing the Government of its merits in helping the climate change transition. Will the new Secretary of State commit to a meeting with the REA—the Association for Renewable Energy and Clean Technology, which acts as the secretariat for the APPG—and me to see what more we can do to convince the new Government of the role that deep geothermal can play?

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• 28 Feb 2024: Leighton Hospital Rebuild

  16:00

  While I have the Minister’s attention, I want to highlight the potential for Leighton and other NHS hospitals to be heated by deep geothermal resources. A recent study by the British Geological Society identified more than 100 hospitals that sit on deep geothermal resources. As the Minister knows, with a net zero target of 2040, the NHS and hospitals in particular face a considerable challenge to secure net zero heat. I have been working with the Carbon and Energy Fund to develop proposals for identifying the best public sector candidates for deep geothermal, with a focus on NHS sites. I was glad to have the opportunity to meet the Hospitals Minister from the other place, Lord Markham, and his team. We are continuing discussions with them, the Treasury and the Department for Energy Security and Net Zero to see what we might be able to achieve.

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• 8 Jun 2023: Deep Geothermal Energy

  15:31

  I have been introduced to this technology because of its great potential locally in Cheshire, as we sit above the hot underground aquifer known as the Cheshire Basin. The possibility of a deep geothermal plant has been considered a number of times locally but never progressed to firm plans, so I began looking at how we might get there. As I learnt more about it, I saw the potential for not just my area but the whole country. I was therefore delighted to be asked by the then Prime Minister, my right hon. Friend the Member for Uxbridge and South Ruislip (Boris Johnson), to produce a review on the potential for making better use of deep geothermal energy as we strive for net zero. I was similarly pleased when the current Prime Minister asked me to continue that work.

  My understanding is that the biggest difference between the UK and many of our neighbours is that Government support to help to get deep geothermal industries off the ground is widespread there. That consists of a mix of tariff guarantees, insurance support and grants. It is no surprise that investors will favour countries that are supporting an industry when it comes to deciding where to put their money. At one point, we did have a tariff guarantee for renewable heat. It was not taken up, but I think it was a matter of timing. It was ahead of the game—the game being the current huge appetite there is from investors and oil and gas to diversify on the way to net zero.

  That is because getting to net zero by 2050 will require us to pull every possible lever. Transitioning our heating systems is a particular challenge. The UK has more than 28.5 million homes and 1.9 million other buildings—offices, hospitals, shops and warehouses. The majority of those are heated by gas boilers. Nearly a fifth of all the UK’s emissions come from buildings. Transitioning to an electric-based system of heating is expected to do the lion’s share, but while we can of course support the growth of skills and jobs for technologies dependent on electricity, we can see even now that the workforce and manufacturing capacity in this field creates challenges.

  Deep geothermal plants would allow us to recruit from an entirely different workforce and existing part of the economy in delivering results, and this is a workforce that we already lead on. Our oil and gas industry is one of the best in the western world, with world-beating companies and workforces with a long history of success not just in the North sea but globally. Deep geothermal provides us with the opportunity to recruit that workforce into drilling for clean heat instead of fossil fuels. That will not only help us get to net zero, but help that industry, with all the jobs it currently holds, to be a positive part of the transition. It is clearly in our interests to ensure that the UK is an internationally competitive environment for deep geothermal.

  In a report by the Association for Renewable Energy and Clean Technology and Arup, the ask from industry was for tariff support at £55 per megawatt-hour for 30 initial plants for 20 years. I saw with interest that that was the amount agreed by Government to support the green gas industry. That suggests to me that the Government consider it value for money.

  Near to my constituency, in Stoke, there is planning permission and a funding application in for a deep geothermal plant, and I have been supporting Leighton Hospital in discussions about securing a plant to provide the heat that that hospital needs. There is a wider group of NHS trusts exploring that approach, working with the carbon and energy fund and seeking support from the public sector decarbonisation pot. I hope my hon. Friend the Member for Redcar (Jacob Young) can pass on to the Energy Minister that I hope he will look encouragingly at those applications for funding to the Department, because we know that if we drill in some places, it helps us to understand the wider geology in a way that can benefit the whole industry.

  I hope that today I have been able to explain clearly the benefits and opportunities that deep geothermal presents, based on everything I learned in producing the review. I want to take a moment to thank some of those who helped me: I thank IGas Energy and GT Energy for facilitating and funding a visit to Pullach to view their deep geothermal network, and my right hon. Friend the Member for Bournemouth West (Conor Burns) for his advice on the conduct of a review. Thanks are also due to Professor Jon Gluyas and the Durham Energy Institute, the British Geological Survey, the Association for Renewable Energy and Clean Technology, the Coal Authority, the Eden Project, Pullach municipal council, the United Downs Deep Geothermal Power project, the Geothermal Energy Advancement Association, the Geological Society and the House of Commons Library.

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• 23 Mar 2023: Energy Trilemma

  15:13

  In the UK, perhaps because of our past success in drilling for oil and gas and our status as a world leader for cheap wind and solar, we have fallen further behind on geothermal. But getting to net zero by 2050 in such a way that we share the proceeds of investment and utilise as much of our existing skills and workforce as possible will require us to pull every lever, and deep geothermal is an important one that will help us in the transition from oil and gas with our existing industries.

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• 21 Nov 2022: COP27

  Despite the usual doom and gloom and negativity from those on the Opposition Benches and from campaigners glueing themselves to roads, will the Minister confirm that, according to the independent climate change performance index, the UK is the only G7 country in the top 10? We are ahead of Germany, France, the US and China. Perhaps those people glueing themselves to roads and moaning should focus their energies on those other countries that need to catch up with us. They could glue themselves to the roads over there—though, of course, they should not fly to get there.

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• 3 Nov 2021: Hospital Building Programme

  09:36

  The site as a whole will be reorganised to remove some of the long journeys from key locations, such as the emergency department, to other parts of the hospital that have grown as a result of sporadic development to date. They will future-proof the hospital with the most up-to-date digital infrastructure, which is becoming increasingly important for delivering the best possible care and doing so efficiently. A new site will enable Leighton to play its part in the race to net zero with more energy- efficient buildings and solar power and even, potentially, a geothermal heat source, which is a technology I am campaigning for the Government to support to get off the ground across the country.

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• 28 Oct 2021: Income Tax (Charge)

  12:14

  My apologies, Madam Deputy Speaker. Does the right hon. Gentleman agree that he would have more credibility on the issue if he had not backed Labour’s 2030 net zero target, which even his own unions did not support? He has no credibility on that point.

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  14:59

  I am conscious that Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy colleagues are leading today’s debate, so I want to mention an area that will be important for job opportunities in Crewe and Nantwich, which I have been talking to the Secretary of State about—the geothermal industry. We saw earlier in the year the difficulties of over-reliance on solar and wind power when it comes to our renewable energy drive. Geothermal is an under-utilised opportunity in this country. Unfortunately, earlier in the year, just as the industry wanted to invest, we removed the tariff that would give it a guaranteed return. That has obviously had a devastating impact on investment in geothermal. We see it rising across Europe and across the world, but it is not rising in this country because we do not have that guarantee. I will continue to work with BEIS colleagues to see whether we can do something about that.

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• 15 Sep 2021: Geothermal Energy

  14:47

  I will also put on the record my thanks to the Minister for the time she has given to date to those of us who are interested in this issue. I have been very grateful for the interest that she has shown, because this really is a critical time for us to get things right in this country. We know that we have huge challenges when it comes to switching to renewable energy and, perhaps even more relevantly, switching to heating our homes in a greener way. There is no one-size-fits-all approach to getting this process right, but we will not deliver if we are not using all the tools in the toolbox when it comes to going green, and I believe that geothermal is a vital tool in that toolbox, with huge potential in some parts of the UK to heat millions of homes and provide energy as well.

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