Monday 26 November 2012

Greenpeace on the Energy Bill

In much of the UK media, you might have got the impression that the problem with the forthcoming Energy Bill is increased support for renewables causing rising electricity costs. Sadly, this is almost the opposite of the truth. What should have been in the Bill is a commitment to ‘decarbonise’ our electricity by 2030 (in other words, by 2030 very little electricity is produced from fossil fuels unless carbon capture and storage is in place to reduce CO2 released). The Committee on Climate Change, which advises the government on how to meet its legally binding emissions cuts, has said that it was essential to have this ‘2030 decarbonisation target’ in the Energy Bill. Support for a 2030 decarbonisation target came not just from campaigners. Large swathes of the business community lined up to say that being clear about future rules would benefit investors. However, George Osborne was determined that it would not happen, since it would scupper his plans for a massive expansion of gas burning in the UK. And shamefully, despite the husky-hugging and ‘greenest government ever’ pledge, Cameron backed him up. The subsidies for renewables are in the Energy Bill because that is all the the Liberal Democrats could wring out of him – though they failed to secure the 2030 target. Now, after 2020, all bets are off. What we know for sure is that ‘all of the above’ – renewables alongside fossil fuels, not instead of – will not be enough to cut our emissions enough to avoid catastrophic climate change. Briefing on the Energy Bill from the Greenpeace Energy Desk http://www.greenpeace.org.uk/newsdesk/energy/analysis/energy-market-reform-six-things-you-need-know plus ‘how the story was spun’ http://www.greenpeace.org.uk/newsdesk/energy/analysis/energy-bill-how-story-was-spun

1 comment:

howard thomas said...

I'd love to know how you work out (in your own words please) how generating electricity from expensive sources isn't going to put the price up!
Its like arguing that black is white!
The clue with this government happened when Mr Osbourne told us that he wasn't going top bankrupt the country to meet such targets. Why are you surprised?
Interestingly I actually like clean energy and was looking the other day at that under sea setup in Northern Ireland. We are surrounded by masses of clean sustainable energy .....but there is a cost!