I beg to move, That the clause be read a Second time.

Hon. Members may still be wondering what the definition of dynamic demand is. It is not what despairing Southampton football club fans are demanding of their team, but a relatively new series of technologies, which overall could make a substantial difference to the deployment of national grid resources. The duty cycle of a device, when it is powered, can be regulated by micro-controllers that detect slight changes in the balance of power supplied to it. In that way, they effectively reflect the extent to which the grid is being heavily used or less heavily used. If attached to a device, the micro-controllers would switch it on when the grid was less heavily used and switch it off again when the grid was more heavily used.

I am sure that hon. Members are now in a state of deep slumber, but I will attempt to awaken them again by referring to the new clause itself. If the new clause is adopted, the Secretary of State will be required, not later than 12 months after it comes into force, to publish a report on what contribution might be made by the technologies to reducing emissions of greenhouse gases. In addition to that report—assuming that the technologies are regarded as contributing to reducing emissions of greenhouse gases—the Secretary of State will be required to consider appropriate steps to promote the way forward for those technologies. The devices concerned might include refrigerators, air conditioners, water heaters and perhaps heat pumps. There are a range of devices that could benefit from having these dynamic demand processes attached to them.

It is estimated—the figures are, of necessity, a little speculative—that if the devices were fitted fairly widely, more than half a megatonne per year of carbon could be saved. That seems a substantial saving. I hope that the Committee will adopt the new clause. Should it be adopted, I hope that a report will be forthcoming in due course to underline how, in the medium term, such technologies can be used. Obviously, in the case of things such as air conditioners, perhaps that would merely involve putting back some of the deleterious effects on the overall use of energy that we may otherwise see, but, nevertheless, a substantial benefit may be achieved.