Baroness Young of Old Scone (Lab)

My Lords, I commend the Minister on this Statement and welcome it very much. It is a welcome return from the terrible days when you put out an auction and nobody played the game. It really was quite heartbreaking when we had those dreadful doldrum days. I shall focus on something that the noble Lord, Lord Moynihan, raised, which is the increased demand for energy, particularly that caused by data and AI centres. The one thing we must not allow to happen is that we accept that that is a given. We have been fairly effective in keeping the whole concept of energy efficiency alive, and the warm homes standard is going to be a good example of that. The question about the predictions of the energy demand of AI needs to be approached in a different way that says we cannot simply see demand increase but must adopt measures that mean that some of these centres are using not only the most up-to-date modern technologies but are encouraging future technologies in order to reduce their impact on the environment, by not only energy use but water use. I would love to say that photonics is the answer if I only knew what photonics is, but technologies are being talked about that will impact on AI demand. I would appreciate a comforting voice from the Minister that at this very new point in seeing a further increase in demand, we will not lose sight of trying to examine seriously possible technologies.