Crucial six months to stop the lights going out

Britain's energy policy is entering a crucial phase with decisions over the next few months shaping the country's ability to meet demand over the next two decades, according to energy minister Malcolm Wicks.

Climate change and the geopolitics of energy supply and demand will be among the big issues of the 21st century and the ability to meet the challenge will be as important to national security as the armed forces, he said yesterday.
"No one wants the lights to be going out in 20 years time. I'm not saying they will. They won't. But they won't because of the decisions we will be taking over the rest of the year."

Among the pressing issues are whether Britain will build a new generation of nuclear power stations. After a judicial review, the government is conducting a five-month consultation on the issue with Mr Wicks insisting it will be a genuine consultation not a cosmetic exercise to satisfy the high court ruling in February.

"The government made a decision in principle that nuclear should - could, depending on commercial people coming forward - be part of the energy mix we require. That was a decision in principle. We were taken to judicial review and we lost, therefore we are engaging in a new consultation and we take that consultation very seriously."

Mr Wicks acknowledged "we can't suddenly be empty-minded about this". But he said: "I am receptive to new arguments and new evidence; otherwise why do it? It's not a cosmetic exercise. I'm a social scientist. I have respect for evidence."

The forthcoming energy bill will be part of a series of significant legislative measures related to the energy industry, including the climate change bill which will enshrine emission targets. A planning bill aims to streamline the planning process in relation to big energy infrastructure projects among others.

Mr Wicks, who is just starting his second spell as energy minister, is aware of the large-scale investment which is needed in energy. The white paper published in May calculated that Britain needed up to 35 gigawatts of new electricity generating capacity over the next 20 years while gas import capacity could rise by up to 30%.

Mr Wicks is keen to see Britain capitalise on new energy technologies, not only as part of its drive towards a lower carbon economy, but as a basis for an industry which will be able to exploit domestic skill and technology on world markets, especially growing economies such as China.

An area Mr Wicks finds particularly exciting is carbon capture and storage. "The dark reality is that the world is going to be burning fossil fuels for another 100 years." As a result there was a long-term need for carbon abatement technology.

"I think carbon capture and storage technology is one of those happy areas where the ethical and the environmental, the commercial and the profitable, come together."

The government announced in the budget that it would hold a competition to demonstrate carbon capture and storage on a commercial scale. Some within the industry are concerned about how many schemes the government would be prepared to back and just how much money it will commit to the programme.

Yesterday Mr Wicks refused to be drawn on details of the competition, due to be launched in November, or how much support the government would offer. "I don't think that has been agreed." He acknowledged that the commercial development of carbon capture and storage would be costly. "You can't do it on the cheap."
full article