Total Politics 2010 Election Map

Total Politics - because knowledge is power

Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change Ed Miliband explains his policies on the important issues of the moment alongside the Conservatives' Greg Clark and Simon Hughes from the Lib Dems

 

We asked five questions:

 

Q1. Should Britain build more nuclear power stations?

 

Q2. What role does carbon capture and storage (CCS) have to play in Britain's battle to reduce carbon emissions

 

Q3. What steps can government take to encourage people to reduce their energy consumption?

 

Q4. How much of Britain's energy needs can be realistically met by renewables?

 

Q5.What is your ideal energy source of the future? 

 

 

 

Ed Miliband
Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change

 

Q1. Reducing Britain's carbon emissions means investing in the trinity of renewable, clean fossil fuel and new  nuclear power. Nuclear is a proven low carbon technology that can deliver a steady supply of energy cost effectively and allow us to move away from high carbon power generation methods. To meet our power requirements and our carbon commitments, we need nuclear power. Currently all but one of Britain's existing nuclear power stations are set to close by 2023. So, it is clear that we need to build new nuclear capacity. This has to be backed up by a rigorous safety regime, a robust planning system and a clear plan to deal with waste.

 

Q2. In coal or gas fired power stations. CCS has the potential to reduce the greenhouse gas emissions from those power stations by around 90 per cent. The International Energy Agency estimate that the global costs of tackling climate change would increase by 70 per cent without CCS. It has a major role to play. Britain is leading international efforts to develop CSS. We are facilitating the development of up to four commercial scale demonstration projects, and investing up to £90m to fund detailed design and development work. We have also proposed the most environmentally ambitious plans in the world for new coal fired power stations. The investment in CCS will also position British businesses at the forefront of a multi-billion pound business of the future.

 

Q3. Steps like lagging a loft, driving a more fuel efficient vehicle or installing double glazing can not only reduce emissions, but also cut fuel bills. While many of these steps have low upfront costs, others do involve an initial outlay before savings start to roll in. Government has a major role to play to help people get over these barriers and start enjoying the benefits of lower energy bills. The Community Energy Saving Programme will target help to homes in our poorest neighbourhoods, delivering significant energy efficiency treatments to 90,000 homes in low-income areas. We are also piloting new 'pay as you save' models of financing for energy saving measures.

 

Q4.The proportion of electricity sourced from renewables has tripled since 2001. We are determined to hit our target of 15 per cent of energy from renewables by 2020. This will include around 10 per cent of transport, 12 per cent of heat and 30 per cent of our electricity - a nearly sixfold increase on today. Meeting those targets will mean making the most of Britain's extensive renewable resources. We have a particularly high potential for offshore wind where our long coastline and shallow waters mean we have natural advantages many other countries lack. The Severn Estuary also provides significant potential for tidal power. As with CCS, developing British technology is not just part of a carbon strategy, it is also part of an industrial strategy. These technologies will also provide a new supply of domestically sourced energy, reducing our reliance on imports for our energy.

 

Q5. There is no single ideal energy source of the future. There are some very exciting developments in train. But for Britain, our focus has to be on the three technologies with the best chance of ensuring we meet our carbon targets while preserving security of supply.

 

 

Greg Clark
Shadow Secretary for Energy and Climate Change

 

Q1. Yes, but we need to make sure that the taxpayer is not left to pick up the bill. Winston Churchill once said that energy security is provided by "diversity and diversity alone". If we want diversity of supply, and to be consistent with our low carbon obligations, new nuclear power will have its part to play in our future energy mix - providing that the costs (whether operating, decommissioning or dealing with waste) do not become a public liability.

 

Q2. CCS is a key technology, both at home and internationally. There can be no effective global solution to climate change without dealing with unabated coal, and the UK is in a prime position to develop this technology. Our depleted gas wells offer some of the best carbon storage sites available, and our oil and gas industry has provided Britain with some of the best leading marine engineering expertise in the world. This is an opportunity we should seize.

 

Q3. Energy reduction needs to become a far more important part of energy policy. The cheapest and cleanest energy is the energy we don't use. Government needs to make it far more attractive and simple for people to upgrade the energy efficiency of their homes and businesses. We are proposing an energy efficiency entitlement  of £6,500 for every home in the country, paid back gradually through the savings that result in householder's energy bill. That could mean a real step-change in national energy consumption. The other thing government needs to do is lead by example on the public estate - what better way to show the benefits of efficiency improvements than by getting our own house in order?

 

Q4. Our national progress on renewable energy has been pretty derisory to date. We are third from the bottom in the EU renewables league table (ahead of only Luxembourg and Malta). If Romania can jump from nine to 19 per cent in a decade, and Bulgaria from two to 10 per cent, why has Britain only managed to inch from 1 to 2.5 per cent, particularly considering our bountiful natural resources? Britain can, and must, do much better than we have been.

 

Q5. If I can turn that question on its head a bit; I don't think most consumers have a preference for any particular energy source. What they do have a preference for is reliable, affordable and clean energy. It is my job to help ensure that the market delivers energy to the public from sources that meet those standards - that means making policy that internalises the costs of pollution, ensures resilient and secure supplies and protects homes and business from volatile and spiking prices. Lots of different technologies can do that - the more diversity the better.

 

 

Simon Hughes
Liberal Democrat Spokesman for Energy and Climate Change

 

Q1. No. Nuclear power is expensive, risky and out-of-date. No nuclear power station anywhere in the world has ever been built on budget or on time. Opting for new nuclear power stations will push out renewable sources that are competing for a share of limited finance. At the price of crowding out our renewable future, nuclear would only produce a four per cent cut in our emissions by 2025. This is far short of what we need to meet our 2020 targets. Britain should be leading the way in a new era of renewable energy rather than relying on the centralised and expensive technologies of the past.

 

Q2. Coal is the most polluting fossil fuel on the planet. We cannot afford to keep building new dirty coal power stations if we are serious about tackling climate change. This is why CCS technology has a big role to play in reducing emissions. We now need to go full speed to demonstrate it fully on an industrial scale. Liberal Democrats strongly support the development of CCS while the government supports the building of new dirty coal power stations, like Kingsnorth in Kent, with only limited CCS. New coal stations should only be built if we have full carbon capture and storage from day one.

 

Q3. This government has failed to provide people with the support they need to become more energy efficient. Only about one in a hundred UK homes meet energy efficiency standards and the state of our housing stock is disgraceful. If we are in power next year, Liberal Democrats will immediately start a 10 year national programme to make every home in the UK energy efficient. Insulating homes is one of the quickest and cheapest ways to reduce energy demand. Individuals and communities also need to rethink their attitude to energy. We can start with simple things like washing at 30 degrees and turning appliances off at source not just at standby.

 

Q4. Ultimately we will be able to meet all of our energy needs from renewables. Liberal Democrats are committed to achieving this by 2050. Crucial to this is the development of a European energy supergrid, which will greatly boost security of supply. Sadly, due to Conservative and Labour government neglect we start from a very low base - only two per cent of our energy currently comes from renewables. However, with the right leadership and investment Liberal Democrats believe that Britain could and should be producing 40 per cent of its electricity from renewable sources by 2020. Many of the technologies already exist. Our job now is to nurture and grow industries such as offshore wind and solar power.

 

Q5. The ideal energy sources of the future are already available to us now. They are the natural resources Britain is blessed with - wind, wave, tidal and solar power. Britain is ideally situated to exploit a range of different renewable energy technologies. Using our natural sources to their full potential would transform our economy and society and secure our energy future.


 

LOWER YOUR ENERGY LEVELS

 

 

Philip Selwood, chief executive of The Energy Saving Trust, says there has been progress to reduce energy use but there remains much work to do

 

The recession has had an important effect on the public's relationship with energy. While it may mean they are less receptive to environmental messaging, it presents opportunities for us to communicate with people in a language they understand. If I told you that you could save over £300 off your energy bill by turning things off standby and fitting insulation, you would listen. With higher energy prices and less disposable income, money is a real issue at the moment and reinforcing an environmental message with an economic one clearly has mass appeal.

 

The Energy Saving Trust is working hard to make sure that the citizen is at the centre of what we do and that means that we must understand people's current priorities. The individual looks at cavity wall insulation and thinks 'Will there be a lot of mess?' 'Who will I get to do it?' 'Does it really work?' It's human behaviour that we need to fix, we need to take the hassle out of being energy efficient and make it easy for the householder.

 

We are really delighted to be managing the £4m Pay as You Save (PAYS) scheme for the government. PAYS will take the form of a loan which the householder can pay back with the money that they subsequently save on their energy bills. People tell us that the biggest barrier preventing them from making their homes more energy efficient is the need to find money to pay for the upfront costs. Research shows that householders are more likely to make larger investments - including renewable technologies and solid wall insulation - if the costs can be spread through the savings they make on their energy bills. We think this could be a fantastic breakthrough on how carbon emissions can be tackled: we cannot reduce the country's carbon emissions to meet the 80 per cent reduction target without making these larger measures viable for citizens. However, financial incentives alone will not be enough. People still need detailed technical advice and confidence in tried and tested technologies before they invest in larger measures. The Energy Saving Trust will continue to provide this through our network of regional advice centres and local outreach work.

 

In addition, installing renewable technologies in households around the UK could help alleviate the pressure on the national grid. You can argue for or against nuclear power stations, but the real solution lies in reducing household electricity consumption while encouraging citizens to produce their own energy.

 

Overall, we would like to see greater commitment in certain areas of policy making from the government. We are very disappointed that government has chosen not to progress its plans to require homeowners to carry out basic energy efficiency measures at the 'natural trigger points', when they're doing major work on refurbishing or extending their home. Measures such as cavity wall insulation can save the homeowner money in a very short time and you might as well get it done while the builder's already there. This is a reasonable, logical extension of the building regulations - and the public tell us this makes sense too.

 

My final point is that clarity is crucial: if we engage with people, we have to make actions simple and easy to understand. Sadly, this is not currently the case. Our own research at the Trust tells us that eight out of 10 people don't know what energy tariff they are on and energy bills are seen as the most difficult to understand of all household bills. If you start here, you can see the important role of technology in the home to help inform consumers. Based on savings of five per cent we estimate that if everyone in the UK had a smart meter installed, householders could save £1.2bn a year and the equivalent of 7.4m tonnes of CO2. We need to see smart meters with real time displays in every home so people can see the energy they are saving in real time. Helping people to stop wasting energy is more than just about insulation - it's about education and behaviour change too.