In moving Amendment 36, I shall speak also to Amendment 37. Again, these are simply probing amendments to elicit more detail. I have a genuine question about definitions of electricity generation. We believe it would be helpful to have more information about what would be included under that descriptor. It is important that electricity is generated in a power station and is then transmitted long distances along transmission lines and through distribution networks. Quite significant losses accrue through that process. One of the advantages of distributed energy is that by locating the source close to the demand you get a potentially more efficient system. I would be interested to hear from the Minister about how far electricity generation will stretch. Does it take us through the plant into transmission and then to distribution? Where do we draw the line?
On what might seem a technical point, within that transmission network, there are sources of significant greenhouse gases other than CO2. SF6 is a very powerful source of greenhouse gas. In fact, it is the most powerful greenhouse gas. One kilogram of SF6 is equivalent to the emissions of 22,200 kilograms of CO2. It is significantly used in electricity substations. There are requirements to report losses of SF6 because it is such a significant pollutant. What policies do we have in place to reduce the emissions of SF6? Mechanisms can be used to reduce it. There are obvious leak detection and repair processes that companies should carry out. It is possible to recycle equipment. Employee education and training is a very important aspect.
I am sorry to spring this on the Minister. It is quite a technical issue and I would be surprised if her notes cover it. I use it only as an illustration of the fact that “electricity generation” is quite broad terminology. It would be helpful to know what is included. Anything that the noble Baroness can say about SF6 in a letter or in another way would be helpful.
As regards Amendment 37, I reiterate my thanks for the letter we received, which addresses the concern about how we are to marry up the fact that through the CFD process we may well fund generation outside the UK. I happen to think that is probably quite a good idea. Certainly, if Ireland is happy to have onshore wind that can be directly piped to Wales in a direct cable, that would be fantastic for us. I would prefer it if onshore wind were in the UK, where we would get the benefit of the jobs but there are problems associated with our being a very densely populated country. This is not to challenge the principle that CFDs can be assigned in places other than within the UK but merely to ask how we will account for that within the carbon intensity targets. Will those plants receiving CFDs count towards it? Will the noble Baroness say more about that?