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I will bring in Nick Young.

As I have said, when we have certainty on which emitters will be included and what the UK Government will fund, we will use the £80 million to add maximum value to those that are involved, depending on what the UK Government sets out. That is why, as I have said repeatedly, it is so important that the UK Government sets out which emitters will be included and what it is going to fund. Until we know that, it will be impossible for us to add value because, as yet, there is nothing to add to. That is why we and industry are looking for the UK Government to move much faster.

The longer the delay, the less likely it is that we will be able to meet our targets and see the industrial decarbonisation that we all want to see and that we have to see if we are to meet our net zero objectives. That is why I call on the UK Government to move much faster, and I do that through engagement, publicly and privately, as do my officials.

We need to take this in order. The consultation on our energy strategy and just transition plan closed earlier this year and received substantial feedback. The consultation responses are being considered, and we are hoping to produce a response as soon as possible to make sure that that part of our programme is realised. We will move as quickly as we can on a sector-by-sector basis thereafter.

It is the latter. Obviously, we have been engaged for some time with industry around the onshore wind sector deal. Since coming into office, I have found that one of the clearest areas of action that industry is looking for us to help with is grid infrastructure—that is one of the major barriers to unlocking our energy potential—as well as ensuring that there is as much certainty as possible.

The industry is not necessarily looking for speed, which is not the only factor. It is about giving the industry as much certainty as possible. Because interactions with the Electricity Act 1989 are outwith our control, that makes it more challenging. As soon as a public inquiry is triggered, that adds a year to the process.

The detail on how we will get to the PFG commitment will be published in the onshore sector deal. That deal is not just about what we will do for industry; it sets out action that is required of industry for Government and for the general public.

Absolutely.

Before we get to infrastructure, there is obviously a limit on what we can do, based on having a fixed budget and a very challenging public finance landscape. We need as wide an energy mix as possible, not least because the technologies play different roles. We know that tidal is incredibly predictable: it provides good certain energy. Similarly, pumped hydro storage gives baseload capacity when the wind is not blowing or the sun is not shining. We know that wind—onshore and offshore—is the cheapest form of renewable energy and already provides a huge amount of capacity for the grid. As has been said, for us, hydrogen has potential as storage and to help to decarbonise other elements of the economy. [Neil Gray has corrected this contribution. See end of report.]

In all areas, we need as wide a mix as possible, and that is what we are looking to achieve. Some are at different stages and will require different levels of support, through funding and by ensuring that we have certainty on consenting and on transmission and the grid infrastructure upgrade, to ensure that they continue to be an investable proposition.

Yes. It is a programme for government commitment that we ensure that we provide as much information and guidance as possible to local authorities to streamline and provide as much certainty as possible for offshore wind. Obviously, the offshore industry is at a different stage of maturity from the onshore one. There is still learning to be done on the competing demands on the natural environment and providing as much information as possible, but we are looking to do what we can to provide as much guidance and certainty as we can to planning authorities to ensure that the consenting regime for which we have responsibility is as efficient as possible.

I am keen that the green industrial strategy is as helpful as possible in maximising the economic opportunities that we have with our massive renewable energy potential. Green hydrogen is one element of that and has the potential, depending on where we choose to go, to reduce the need for some of the transmission infrastructure that the convener was talking about, because it is, in essence, an additional opportunity for energy storage. We need to decide what will be the best use and provide the maximum output from using hydrogen as an opportunity.

Certainly, in industrial decarbonisation, you will be familiar with plans in certain parts of industry to use hydrogen as a way in which to reduce carbon emissions in their processes. That is why it is so important, particularly on the CCUS front, that we see a determination from the UK Government on which sites and emitters will be part of that process, so that there is an investable proposition for those industry colleagues as quickly as possible. That industrial decarbonisation will be critical, not just for us in Scotland to meet our 2030 and 2045 targets but for the UK to be able to meet its targets, and CCUS will play an important role in that process.

Yes.

We were hoping that it would help to move the UK Government on a little bit faster in the process and ensure that it realised the industry’s call to take decisions as quickly as possible. I do not think that Mr Lumsden and I are at cross purposes: we both want carbon capture to happen and we want it to have happened yesterday. The challenge is that we want to commit the funding to ensure that we play our part in supporting the industry. However, until we have certainty about which emitters are included and about the timescales, we cannot spend that money. We need to ensure that there is that certainty. I do not think that we are at cross purposes here; we are both in the same area. When that information is available, we will be in a position to spend that money. It is absolutely crucial that the UK Government now takes that action.