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I would absolutely be open to considering that. It is important that we continue to learn from international best practice. You will be aware that, during the Scottish National Party leadership contest, the now First Minister was in favour of greater community or state ownership in energy production, which is something that he and I share an interest in. I would be happy to consider what more might be possible going forward along the lines of Monica Lennon’s suggestion.

Carbon capture and storage will be incredibly important for any blue hydrogen schemes that come forward. Again, I encourage the UK Government to move as fast as possible in confirming the Acorn project’s track 2 status to ensure that it can proceed.

However, the aspiration has to be to maximise the opportunity from green hydrogen, which is where ScotWind gives us a huge opportunity. If we can ensure that some of the overprovision that we are likely to have from ScotWind projects is linked to green hydrogen projects, we have a huge opportunity—as with pumped storage—to ensure on-going energy security when there are dips in supply from other areas.

First of all, the energy strategy and just transition plan is out for consultation. We are currently consulting on the language that Mr Kerr has outlined, and the finalised plan will reflect the consultation responses that we have received. I am not sure whether Mr Kerr has responded to that consultation with his views on the language around “presumption against”, but I am sure that others will have responded. We will continue to consider whether that is appropriate.

Obviously, consenting for oil and gas is reserved to the UK Government. That is not a decision for the Scottish Government to take. We believe that maximum extraction of oil and gas is not compatible with our net zero objectives, but we are also cognisant of the fact that we are not able to turn off our requirement for the use of oil and gas overnight. Therefore, we need to take a pragmatic approach that meets our demand. That will require the UK Government to have a much stronger climate compatibility measure and to ensure that any decisions that it takes are within the climate compatibility measures.

I have set out my view. I do not have responsibility for the area. Mr Kerr will be aware that decisions on consents for new oil and gas exploration rest with the UK Government. I will check the record, but I am pretty sure that Mr Kerr did not ask Mr Bowie, who has direct responsibility for that, about that a couple of weeks ago.

As I have set out, my view is that maximum extraction of oil and gas will not be compatible with our net zero objectives. We need to take a pragmatic approach and recognise the fact that there will still be demand for oil and gas to meet our on-going energy security, but we need a much faster just transition that includes the UK Government investing in areas such as carbon capture and storage and grid capacity to allow us to take advantage of our massive renewables potential. I hope that the UK Government will come forward with a much stronger climate compatibility test to ensure that any new oil and gas coming forward meets net zero objectives.

We will continue to work with stakeholders to develop that. I think that you are right: the use of hydrogen will be in a mix, and it will be about decarbonising hard-to-abate sectors—for example, transport. Hydrogen also has the potential to supplement the gas grid. There is the potential for some hydrogen to go into the gas grid and to be exported. I think that there will be a combination of all of that.

The technology required for all those areas is nascent, as you have said. We are looking to support its production and commercialisation through the £100 million fund that is coming forward, and we hope that there will be some announcements very shortly so that we can see a real path for the future of hydrogen and how we can meet our targets for 2030 and 2045.

That has to be the overall aspiration. Beyond Grangemouth, I do not see where there would be complementarity that allows for blue hydrogen, but it depends on the potential projects coming forward. However, green hydrogen is where the maximum opportunity is and where the big wins will come, in my view.

We will need infrastructure near to where the offshore renewable energy is coming from. We have provided a £100 million fund for that transition to go forward and, we hope, to encourage further investment to ensure that the technology is commercialised, resulting in further infrastructure off the back of that. We want to work with potential producers to ensure that their plans align with where we are looking to go. I am hopeful that that will come forward.

I have set out my view.

The negotiations on the leasing round were conducted by Crown Estate Scotland. However, the Scottish public purse is set to receive a significant amount of revenue over the course of ScotWind, with £750 million through the initial leasing options. The supply chain is important—there is the potential to raise £28 billion-worth of revenue through supply chain work. There will also be on-going rental costs, which could factor in multiple billions of pounds coming back into the Scottish public purse. A significant opportunity has been realised through ScotWind, but I am sure that both Crown Estate Scotland and Government colleagues will learn from that initial process in further leasing rounds.

As part of the discussions that we are having on the energy strategy and just transition plan, we are looking at whether we should have targets for solar and tidal and considering, with the sector, what the targets would look like if we were to have them. As we continue to consider that, we will keep the committee updated on our decisions in that regard.