Contribution
As always, it is a real pleasure to serve under your chairship in Westminster Hall, Mr Betts. I thank the hon. Member for Worcester (Tom Collins) for leading the debate and for the many conversations in recent years surrounding the need for alternative methods to fossil fuels. There is no doubt whatever that hydrogen is a much talked-about method, so it is great to be here today to discuss these matters. I believe that we must commit ourselves to the net zero targets, and we must meet them, or try to. To do so, we must have a strategy that encompasses all of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland.
I am pleased to see the Minister, who has a passion for this issue, in his place. Maybe the fact that he is still here today tells us just how good a job he is doing. He is a safe pair of hands and a friend to us all, for he has a deep interest in this matter. I am also pleased to see the shadow Minister, who brings a spark to this debate in every way, as he does when he speaks in the Chamber.
Northern Ireland wants to play a role. We have strong potential for green hydrogen production, due to our significant offshore and onshore wind resources, especially surrounding the Antrim coast in the Irish sea. There are also interests in blue hydrogen, but for Northern Ireland specifically, green hydrogen is the focus for sustainability. Queen’s University has been to the fore in trying to promote the issue; I spoke to the hon. Member for Worcester beforehand and I know that he knows that, but maybe the Minister does not, although he is a regular visitor to Northern Ireland, and why not? What better place to go for work or indeed for a wee trip? It is important to have connections between universities and business, and the partnerships that come from that. Perhaps Government could focus on that as well. I know that the Minister does that regularly.
There have been discussions throughout Northern Ireland about hydrogen storage and the potential need for development. Northern Ireland’s main hydrogen storage development is the Islandmagee energy storage project, a unique salt cavern facility in County Antrim, in the constituency of my right hon. Friend the Member for East Antrim (Sammy Wilson). That is just an example of what we can use to move this development forward in the direction that it needs to go. That unit was initially planned for natural gas, but it has the potential to transition to hydrogen, supporting net zero goals.
We have heard of many developments in relation to hydrogen and transport over the last couple of years—my hon. Friend the Member for East Londonderry (Mr Campbell) referred to that in his intervention, and the hon. and learned Member for North Antrim (Jim Allister) will do likewise in a few moments. The great thing about Wrightbus is that its net of employment applies not only to North Antrim; many people across all constituencies work for it and have helped to develop the project there through their work on the shop floor. Some of the UK’s companies have taken part in a project to inject millions into the economy and create thousands of jobs, and Wrightbus in Northern Ireland is one of them. It is a leading producer of hydrogen buses, which provide safe, reliable and cost-effective transport.
My hon. Friend the Member for East Londonderry was right to make the point about the travel chaos in London yesterday. What should have been a 15 or 20-minute journey took an hour and 20 minutes; the lady who works in our office had to leave home two hours earlier to try to get the bus connections—or even to get a bus. These are things that we should be looking at, not just because of this week but because of their ability to reduce the impact on the atmosphere and environment.
The progression to net zero will also bring countless jobs, offering great opportunities in terms of apprenticeships. My query to the Minister is what has been done to encourage apprenticeships. There was a great defence development strategy statement yesterday, which was good to hear, and out of that was coming jobs—but were apprenticeships coming out of that as well? Could the Minister tell us about apprenticeships within the hydrogen sector?
There are also numerous hindrances preventing hydrogen from emerging. There is the opportunity to establish strong supply chains, but there are some challenges, for example the high cost of producing and using low-emission hydrogen compared with fossil fuel alternatives. There is also some uncertainty surrounding the future applicability of hydrogen in different sectors. Globally, we need to be aware that there is so much competition. It is good to have this hydrogen debate, and to have a hydrogen strategy, but we also need to be competitive. We must take advantage of the opportunities that we can while we have the capability to do so. I ask the Minister, how we can keep those costs down and make it competitive for the future.
As we look to the future of energy, hydrogen offers one of the most promising, yet complex, paths to decarbonisation. It presents us with a clear opportunity to create cleaner industries, decarbonise transport and build a more resilient energy system across Northern Ireland and the rest of the United Kingdom. I always think that the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland with all the regions together, can do it better, and I think the Minister will reinforce that in his summing up.
I look to the Minister to engage further with his counterparts in the devolved nations. I know he does so regularly, but it is always encouraging when the Minister says he has been in touch with Queen’s University Belfast, or with Wrightbus in Ballymena or wherever it might be, to ensure that we are doing things to progress and move forward as a collective—a collective that is better together in relation to our net zero supply chains.