10. What his plans are for expenditure on the development of carbon capture and storage technology for gas-fired power stations. (4944)

I am grateful to my hon. Friend for his question. The Government will continue public sector investment in carbon capture and storage—CCS—technology for four coal-fired power stations. The Committee on Climate Change has recommended that we give serious consideration to funding at least one gas CCS project as part of that programme, and we are carefully evaluating whether a demonstration project on gas would prove beneficial and add value to the programme.

Will the Minister confirm that the Government are committed to providing the long-term infrastructure investments that will make the Yorkshire and Humber CCS cluster a worldwide success?

My hon. Friend puts his finger on one of the most important issues that the previous Government failed to address. If we are to make a real success of carbon capture and storage, we have to develop the infrastructure of oversized pipelines and encourage clusters of those facilities in certain areas. We have to take a long-term strategic view, and a good deal of work is being done in Yorkshire and Humberside, on which I congratulate all those involved.

Has the Minister had any discussions with the Scottish Government about the development of carbon capture in Scotland, and in particular has he received any representations on the proposed new coal-fired plant at Hunterston?

I had an initial discussion with the First Minister last week, and we are determined to work closely through the respect agenda to ensure that the taking forward of devolved issues is fully within the Scottish Government’s remit. We want clean coal to play an active part in our energy policy, but it must be genuinely clean coal.