§ Dr. KumarTo ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry if she will make a statement on her policy on developing cleaner and greener fuel sources; and what support is available from her Department to achieve that end. [115540]
§ Mr. WilsonThe Governments recent Energy White Paper firmly places the environment at the heart of our energy policy. Renewable (clean and green) energy plays a key part in our policy.
To support the development and expansion of renewable technologies we have put in place a number of initiatives: the Renewables Obligation, which places an obligation on licensed electricity suppliers to source a percentage of supplies from renewable sources, to reach 10 per cent. by 2010; exemption from the Climate Change Levy for electricity generated by new renewable technologies; £348 million of capital grants and support for research, development and demonstration programmes. The Government in addition allocated a further £28 million to the Research Councils in last years spending review to support research into sustainable energy.