The Official Report is a written record of public meetings of the Parliament and committees.
All Official Reports of meetings in the Debating Chamber of the Scottish Parliament.
All Official Reports of public meetings of committees.
Displaying 1816 contributions
Net Zero, Energy and Transport Committee
Meeting date: 14 December 2021
Mark Ruskell
I will ask specifically about blue hydrogen, because it seems that the Acorn project is economically dependent on its production. If we are putting 20 per cent of blue hydrogen into the gas grid, we might get a carbon saving on that, although the figures for blue hydrogen production are questionable. What about the 80 per cent? What about the natural gas that we will continue to be dependent on to run the particular type of national grid that is required for heating? Does that not build in dependence on unabated natural gas?
Net Zero, Energy and Transport Committee
Meeting date: 14 December 2021
Mark Ruskell
I want to ask a critical question about how we deploy CCS in a way that does not build in dependency on fossil fuels. We have heard comments from Erik Dalhuijsen about fossil hydrogen production and, related to that, there might be on-going dependence on natural gas if we are to use it for domestic heating. Where do we draw the line and refocus on the hard-to-abate sectors—for example, cement—without playing into enhanced oil recovery or fossil hydrogen production, within the economics of CCS? I put that to Professor Haszeldine.
Net Zero, Energy and Transport Committee
Meeting date: 14 December 2021
Mark Ruskell
You talked about there being a demand of not 6 billion but 15 billion to 18 billion barrels, so I come back to my question: how much of that carbon could be captured under the Acorn project or future projects, and what would be the timescale for that?
Net Zero, Energy and Transport Committee
Meeting date: 14 December 2021
Mark Ruskell
I will ask Colin Pritchard about hydrogen. My understanding is that it will be a precious energy commodity that we will need to decarbonise the hard-to-abate sectors, such as steel. Is there a need to deploy a hydrogen hierarchy, whereby we prioritise the use of hydrogen for the hard-to-abate sectors and perhaps deprioritise the decarbonisation of the way that we heat our homes, or do we just need more of everything?
Net Zero, Energy and Transport Committee
Meeting date: 14 December 2021
Mark Ruskell
I know that time is short, convener, so I will hand back to you.
Constitution, Europe, External Affairs and Culture Committee
Meeting date: 9 December 2021
Mark Ruskell
Does that ethos of collaboration extend to Parliaments and civic society? Is that also codified in the concordats? Is there an expectation that citizens will be involved in discussions around trade agreements or any other policies that are pursued by regions or states?
Constitution, Europe, External Affairs and Culture Committee
Meeting date: 9 December 2021
Mark Ruskell
Can I bring in Dr Zuleeg, please?
Constitution, Europe, External Affairs and Culture Committee
Meeting date: 9 December 2021
Mark Ruskell
Thank you—that was very useful. Does that focus carry through to the concordats that are established between those sub-state regions and countries and the EU? What are the most successful features of those concordats? Perhaps we could go back to Mr Salamone.
Constitution, Europe, External Affairs and Culture Committee
Meeting date: 9 December 2021
Mark Ruskell
Are there any examples of third countries or sub-states that have been particularly successful in aligning their strategic priorities with the institutional cycle?
Constitution, Europe, External Affairs and Culture Committee
Meeting date: 9 December 2021
Mark Ruskell
Thank you for sharing that news with us. Obviously, it is in its very early days. As institutions, civil society organisations or European citizens that scrutinise the process, how can we engage with it practically? Will there be full access to papers that are being brought up to the PPA for scrutiny? Will there be full disclosure and full transparency, and what might that look like? What mechanisms are you used to implementing in your foreign affairs committee? What kind of culture of openness and transparency might we expect for the PPA? What might that look like when it comes to sharing the information that is presented to the elected representatives on both sides but that perhaps is not available to citizens or those who scrutinise the process from afar, as we in Holyrood do?