Here are the climate-related sections of speeches by MPs during the Commons debate Thamesteel.
Full text: https://hansard.parliament.uk/Commons/2012-03-21/debates/12032149000001/Thamesteel
10:26 David Mowat (Warrington South) (Con)
About 18 months ago, I received a written answer from the Department of Energy and Climate Change stating that 18% of business energy costs were caused by our green—or our renewables—policies, which is a large chunk. That figure is set to rise to 30% by 2020. What matters is what that means relative to our competitors. It is not possible for gross domestic product to grow if energy is expensive. As we move from a service-based GDP to what I hope is a more manufacturing-based GDP, costs will be more in terms of energy per unit of GDP developed.
This is not about climate change. There are two aspects to what we are trying to do with our energy commitments: reduce carbon and go for renewables. The Climate Change Act 2008, which was rightly passed by the previous Government, committed us to an 80% carbon reduction by 2050. That is about the hardest thing I can imagine doing while we continue to grow the economy. A year later, the same Government signed up to an EU directive that said that, as well as an 80% reduction, we would produce 30% of our electricity from renewables by 2020. That is a contradictory objective. There is nothing in the first objective that says we have to go for renewables at the pace and scale we did. We could have gone much more quickly for nuclear power, or for carbon capture and storage—even more quickly than we are doing now, and I concede that the Government are moving in that direction.
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10:43 Mr Wright
My hon. Friend the Member for Scunthorpe (Nic Dakin) mentioned the supply chain. What are the Government doing to help establish and nurture a UK supply chain, particularly for the renewable energy sector? We have the biggest market anywhere in the world for offshore wind, and steel is a large part of the manufacturing process. However, the industry estimates that only about 10% of the components going into offshore wind installations are British-made. Tata Steel is investing £9 million in its world-class pipe mills in my constituency to increase the possibility of winning contracts for offshore wind component manufacturing, but the company needs the Government’s active support to ensure not only that there is a level playing field for British steel manufacturers, but that those manufacturers get on the pitch in the first place.
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10:55 Mr Willetts
As part of the autumn statement, therefore, we announced measures worth about £250 million to help energy-intensive industries, including the steel industry, to reduce their energy bills. That package was intended specifically to mitigate the effect of climate change policies and energy policies on energy-intensive industries such as steel. In February, we launched the third round of the regional growth fund, worth £1 billion, to which steel companies can bid as long as they comply with state aid rules. The £125 million advanced manufacturing supply chain initiative is expected to go live before Easter, and that will offer further funding opportunities for building supply chains.
Offshore wind power clearly has great potential as a market for British steel, so we understand the disappointment that an EDF offshore wind project contract, in which a UK company won some of the fabrication work, does not involve UK manufactured steel. We have to recognise that, ultimately, such decisions are commercial, but we are working with the Department of Energy and Climate Change to see how we can help to strengthen the supply chain so that UK companies are better placed to compete for such business. Together with the Crown Estate and senior executives from 17 developers, we have therefore established the offshore wind developers forum.
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